Close to the Heart
by BarbaraBriana
Summary: Bella is tired of getting baby shower and wedding invitations because she's 29 years old and hasn't been married or had a baby yet. And then she meets Edward. Edward is a 30 year old doctor who just moved back to California. They meet and fall in love.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hi, this is my first like serious Twilight fanfic. Reviews and crit are appreciated, but please be kind. I love reviews and comments. If you like the story, please let me know! That way, I'll get the next chapter up faster ;)**

**--**

**Chapter 1**

Bella

It was a new year, time for a new start, time for changes. I always looked forward to a new year, thinking that maybe this one will be _life-changing._ What a load of crap.

I went to the mailbox and opened it, knowing exactly what I would find. _Another_ baby shower invitation. Did _everyone_ in the world have to be getting married and then popping out a kid about nine months later? Did _everyone_ have to invite me to their baby showers? I mean, hello, I was twenty-nine years old. All of my friends were married and had either had kids or were going to have kids. Now, it was my best friend Alice's turn. She had just married the love of her life, Jasper Hale, only months earlier and now she was six months pregnant.

It wasn't that I wasn't happy for her—because I was—it was just a depressing realization every time I got another wedding invitation or baby shower invitation. I wasn't married yet and I wasn't pregnant yet. And they were both on my list. My list had started when I was seventeen years old, planning my life for the years ahead…

"_Bella, you have another college acceptance letter!" my mother said, poking her head into my room._

"_Mom, I'm going to a small college. I'm already planning on going to that little community college near Forks," I groaned, preparing myself for the speech I had grown to hear every day._

"_Isabella Marie Swan, this acceptance letter is from _Yale_, for Christ's sake! You could get into any college in the country and you're going to some dopey ass community college just out of one of the smallest towns in the whole state of Washington?!" She said, fuming._

"_Mom, you're not supposed to pressure me to go anywhere. It's my choice and it's my life and my future." I said, closing the subject._

_She was definitely thinking of a comeback, I could see it in her eyes. Instead, she turned on her heel and slammed my door behind her._

_I glanced at my list. _

_1. Graduate high school top 10% of class._

_2. Go to college at the college of my choice._

_3. Graduate college and finish degree to become a chef._

_4. Advance career._

_5. Fall in love._

_6. Get married, maybe. _

_7. Beautiful farmhouse._

_8. Beautiful babies with the love of my life._

I still had that dumb list. I had easily fulfilled 1-4. And now I was stuck on 5. There had been guys, of course. But none of them were worthy of my acceptance. They were all a bunch of stuck up idiots and I couldn't marry an idiot. My babies would be idiots, too! I was still undecided on marriage though. I mean, what's the point? If you love someone, you don't need a stupid piece of paper to prove it. I wanted it though. Every five year old plans her wedding, and I wasn't an exception. The floofy dress, the ring, the ceremony, the people, the party… I wanted it all, so for that reason, I was planning on getting married someday. As for the beautiful farmhouse, that wasn't happening anytime soon. I lived in the downtown area of a small town in California. I lived in an apartment. It wasn't anywhere near a farmhouse. And since I wasn't married or even dating anyone, I definitely wasn't pregnant.

My life had always been so organized. I had planned out every little detail. My high school career, my college career, my future after college, the list goes on; however, there were always flaws in my plans. I hadn't expected to lose my mom so early in life.

She was supposed to be there to watch me graduate from college, she was supposed to be here guiding me on men, and later on helping me plan my wedding but that wasn't happening. My mother died in a tragic car accident in my second year of college. She was hit by a drunk driver and the car was completely demolished. It's a part of my past I don't like to talk about, it hurts too much. It has always made me regret how much of a bitch I was to may mother and how rebellious I was as a teenager. I always made great grades in school, but I was a _troublemaker_; however, I can't take that back now, it's just a part of me that will always haunt my memories.

I sat down on my couch and laid the baby shower invitation on my coffee table, sighing. Another baby shower, another single and hopeless year for love.

I picked up my cell phone and dialed Alice's number.

"Hello?" she said, her musical voice ringing in my ears.

"Alice, it's Bella. I just got your shower invite."

"Oh, good!" she squealed.

I cringed a little. Alice was always a little too exuberant.

"Bella, Jasper's two brothers are coming into town. We're having dinner at my place tomorrow and I want you to come and keep us company. It's going to be Jasper, me, Emmett and his wife Rosalie, and Edward. Edward's a loner like you, so maybe you two can talk," she suggested.

"Alice, you're not trying to set me up _again_ are you? I'm so tired of men," I said, thinking how much I was lying in the back of my head. I wanted to meet this _Edward_. If all else failed, maybe I'd end up doing him and getting some.

I chuckled into the phone.

"Bella, are you even _listening_ to me?"

"Oh, sorry Alice. I was sort of, distracted."

"Well, you're going to talk to Edward. He's moving here to California from Alaska, so now Jasper will have both of his brothers closer to him."

"Fine, Alice, I'll talk to him… But it's just going to be like the other ones you've set me up with."

"After you see Edward, your mind will be screaming do me, trust me. Check your picture messages."

And with that, she hung up.

I looked at the picture message icon and went into my inbox.

The picture downloaded.

There, staring at me on my cell phone screen, was the most beautiful man I had ever seen in my life. His eyes were emerald green and his hair was a disarray of bronze perfection. I only began to imagine his body if his face looked like this.

I sighed aloud and then reality hit me. There was no way someone this beautiful wouldn't be a superficial asshole.

I was already dreading this dinner, but I was going to go anyway, just to show Alice that no matter how many guys she set me up with, I was doomed to fail.

--

Edward

The plane sloped down onto the runway. I looked at my watch. 9:30 pm, already? It had just felt like we took off from the airport. I grabbed my laptop bag from the overhead compartment and stepped off of the plane.

Alice was standing in the middle of the airport, waving at my frantically. _Oh boy_.

"Edward! I'm so glad you're here. Jasper and I are so excited to have you move in nearby. We're having dinner tomorrow and my best friend, Bella Swan is coming. You guys are going to get along great," she squealed.

"Alice, please tell me you're not trying to set me up. I just broke up with my girlfriend in Alaska and I'm not ready to start another relationship—"

She pushed her Blackberry's screen into my face, showing me a picture of a chocolate-eyed, brown-haired girl. I had to admit, she was beautiful. She was a lot prettier than my last girlfriend.

"Edward, she's fabulous. You're going to adore her."

"Alice, I'll talk to her, but I'm not ready to start another relationship."

Oh, the things this woman thought of.

I wasn't happy being single, I had always had a girlfriend since the time I was fourteen. It was probably because I was apparently good-looking, but I didn't get it. I was thirty years old and I had never been married. It was most likely because of my job. I was a doctor and it wasn't the easiest profession to date in. I had managed in Alaska, but I was much happier to be in California. It was ten million times warmer and the hospitals weren't out in the middle of nowhere.

I had watched all of my friends get married and have children, but it hadn't happened for me yet. I hadn't found the right woman. I hadn't had _time_ to find the right woman. Things were finally settling down in my life though and now I was prepared to find her and begin the real rest of my life.

Alice blabbered on and on as she drove down the highway towards home. I was moving my things into Alice and Jasper's over the weekend as soon as they arrived from Alaska, and for now I was staying with them. I glanced over at Alice; she had one hand on the steering wheel and the other resting lovingly on her bloated belly. She and Jasper had been so happy to find out they were having a baby. I was happy for them, even though I was a little sad that my little brother was already married and going to be a father.

I just kept telling myself that the right woman was out there and I would find her soon enough.

We pulled Alice's car into the garage and she hopped out. I didn't understand how this tiny pixie of a woman was still so exuberant and agile even while pregnant. I never would, I suppose.

She touched the yellow hood of the car and clicked the button on her keys to lock the door before she took me inside.

"Alice, is that you?" I heard my brother call from upstairs.

"Yes, babe, it's me! And I brought your big brother!"

Jasper appeared a few minutes later, coming towards me and hugging me tightly.

"Edward, how have you been? It's been so long since you've been here."

"I know, sorry about that… Your little wife here is trying to set me up, I've heard."

"Isn't she always up to something mischievous?" he said, laughing.

She playfully punched him in the arm and he pulled her into an embrace, kissing her softly.

I sighed, looking away so as not to invade their privacy.

They stopped their kissing and turned to look at me. Jasper still had his arms wrapped around Alice's waist, their hands resting on her belly.

"Um… Where am I going to be staying?" I asked, gesturing to my suitcases and laptop bag out in the garage.

"In the guest bedroom," they both said, laughing at their unison.

I smiled as Alice tossed me her keys so I could go back to the car and get my things. When I returned, they were gone. I suspected they were in the living room or their bedroom, so I walked up the stairs and found the guest bedroom, settling myself in.

I had thought moving back here was the best option, but now I didn't know how I was going to handle all of the couple-like emotion around me. I was the only one in the family who wasn't easily married off and I felt like the odd one out.

Maybe moving back hadn't been such a great idea after all.

--

Bella

Alice's dinner was tonight. I wanted to look nice, so I decided to go buy a new outfit for the occasion.

I wanted something casual, but something flattering since I was meeting Edward. I shouldn't have been worrying about an outfit at all. I was just talking to him. I wasn't supposed to want to talk to him. He was _way_ out of my league.

I pulled into my favorite clothing store and went to the racks.

I found three pairs of jeans I liked, so I decided to buy those for later. But that wasn't appropriate for this dinner. Finally, after tedious searching, I found it. A white summer dress. It fell just above my knees, and had a very feminine, lacy feel to it. It wasn't too dressy and it wasn't too casual. I would pin my hair back without brushing it out and it would wave gently down my back. Ah, perfection.

I began walking to the register to buy my jeans and dress when I noticed the lingerie section. I couldn't wear a bra with this dress, but I sure as hell could wear pretty panties. I went to the 5 for $25 table and picked out 2 lacy thongs and 3 pairs of lacy boy shorts. Perfect.

I paid for my items and threw the bag down in the passenger seat as I drove home. I was going to look amazing, both in my dress and in what I was wearing underneath. Why I had bought those panties, I would never know. I already had about fifty pairs at home that would have gone perfectly well with the dress, but I simply decided they weren't hot enough.

It was four when I got home and Alice's dinner began at five. We wouldn't be having dinner till seven, she had said, but we were going to hang out and talk while we waited.

_Talking_… It always led me into deep shit. Alice would say something to embarrass me, I was counting on it. I just had to remember that I was wearing a white lacy thong underneath my dress and everything would be okay.

I slid my dress on and looked at myself in the mirror. My hair looked great pinned back, and my dress hung against my curves, accentuating my breasts and cleavage. I slipped on some white sandals and walked out the front door.

God, I was nervous.

--

Edward

I looked at my hair in the mirror. This was going to be hopeless. I had tried to get the bronze mess to look neater than usual, but it just made it look even messier. I sighed and pulled my white shirt onto my arms as I began buttoning up the front. I was wearing a white dress shirt and black pants. The dinner wasn't _formal_ but it was dressier than casual, so I figured I better look nice. I shouldn't be wanting to meet Bella. I am _not_ ready for this. I am _not_ ready to meet another woman.

I heard the doorbell ring and Alice's loud squeal as she opened the door.

_Oh god. She's here._

I ran my hand nervously through my hair, making the disarray worse.

"Stupid hair," I mumbled.

I walked down the stairs, not sure what to expect. I looked around the living room. Alice was sitting on the couch facing the television with Jasper next to her and their backs to me. Bella was sitting on the couch facing the stairs. Our eyes met briefly and she looked away quickly, her cheeks reddening.

I smiled to myself and sat on the opposite end of the same couch she was sitting on.

"Bella, I would like to introduce you to Edward Cullen, Jasper's oldest brother. And Edward, I would like to introduce you to my best friend, Bella Swan," Alice said, gesturing at us.

I gave her a small glare and noticed Bella gave her a huge eye roll. So, she knew we were being set up, too.

"It's nice to meet you, Edward," Bella said shyly, looking at me with a gentle smile.

"It's nice to meet you too, Bella," I said, smiling back at her.

The conversation flowed freely and I looked at Bella when she wasn't looking. She had long, slender legs that seemed to go on for miles and it didn't help that she was wearing a white dress that fell above her knees. I wanted to run my hand up her leg and feel what she had on underneath that dress more than anything else at that moment. I felt my dick twitch in my pants. _Fucking traitor. No relationships yet._

I let my mind lead itself elsewhere but as soon as she was engrossed in conversation again, I began looking her body over. Her hair looked soft, it was a deep mahogany color and it waved gently down her back. I started fantasizing about her hair, fanning out over my pillow. _SHIT!_

She looked at me quickly, smiling slightly and she leaned forward a little, exposing her cleavage more. Her dress dipped into a low V, giving her cleavage that should have been illegal. Her nipples were poking through her dress, too. She wasn't wearing a bra. My dick started to throb in my pants and I knew I was in trouble.

"If you'll excuse me, I'll be right back," I said, standing up and excusing myself to the restroom.

I stepped into the bathroom and closed the door behind me, leaning my back against the wall. I looked down at my erection straining against my pants. I was already having fucking fantasies about this woman and I didn't even know her. She was extremely attractive and her legs and her hair and her breasts, everything about her was perfectly tempting to my raging battle not to get involved with anyone. She probably wouldn't even want to know me; I had barely said two words to her because all I could think about was getting into her pants! God, I am such a fucking sleaze. I washed my hands and dried them on a towel. I looked at myself in the mirror, running my hands through my hair and making it even more of a tangled muddle.

I shut the bathroom door behind me and went to sit back down beside her.

"Edward, we were just talking about you," Alice chuckled, "Jasper was just telling Bella that your hair has never been able to be tamed. It always looks like a forest."

I blushed, quickly glancing at Bella. I was very sensitive about my hair. I'm sure it looked attractive to some, but I had always felt that it looked awful.

She smiled at me apologetically, as my cheeks reddened even further.

"Well, if you'll excuse us, we need to check on the food and call Em and Rose and see if they're on their way yet," Jasper said, helping Alice up from the couch.

Bella and I were alone.

"I think your hair looks fine, Edward," Bella said, smiling.

"I've always been self-conscious about it," I sighed, "I can't believe they had to bring my hair up."

"I'm sure they'll be telling some embarrassing stories about me, too. There's plenty about my clumsiness," she sighed.

I felt myself smiling despite my embarrassment.

"You're clumsy?" I asked.

She laughed, "Almost always have been. I've broken both arms and an ankle, and I have too many cuts and scrapes and bruises to keep count of."

"Well, maybe we have something in common," I chuckled, "We're both embarrassed about silly things."

She smiled widely, just as Alice and Jasper entered the room again.

"Well, it seems Emmett and Rose are having car trouble," Alice pouted.

"So, we're going to drive out there and help them. We should be back in a few hours," Jasper said.

"You're leaving us, alone?" I asked, feeling my heart rate increase.

"Yeah, there's plenty of food in the kitchen, so you can eat whatever you like," Jasper said.

I looked at Alice. She looked like she was about to burst. Was it just me, or was this little set up more than a coincidence? I gave her a knowing glare and she shrugged as they walked out the door.

Bella looked at me.

"They just set us up on a date, didn't they?" She said, groaning.

"Apparently so," I said, yet again running my hands through my hair.

"Well, I suppose we should make the best of it then," she said, biting her lower lip.

I stood up and gave her my hand, helping her up off the couch. She tripped over her own feet a little and landed against my chest.

"S-sorry," she whispered.

"It's fine," I said, looking into her eyes.

I felt my face wanting to inch closer to hers and I dropped her hand, helping her stand up straighter.

"Well, let's eat," she said, leading me into the kitchen.

--

Bella

Sitting on the couch next to Edward had been torture. He was so fucking beautiful that it made my heart rip. I wanted to hold him and kiss him and _do him_. And now we were alone in Alice and Jasper's house. We were sitting across from each other at the kitchen table, eating silently.

I couldn't believe that Alice had the nerve to actually leave us alone on an almost _date_. She was really trying hard to set Edward and me up and I could tell Edward had been there before too.

"Bella?" he said, glancing up from the table, his green eyes looking through his long eyelashes and meeting mine.

_Oh my god._ I felt my white lacy thong getting wet. He was dazzling the shit out of me right then.

"Yes?" I managed to say.

"I know that Alice is trying to set us up and that's why she left us alone—conveniently—but I was just wondering if, you would uh… like to go on a real date with me?" he looked at me nervously, waiting for a response.

_Hell fucking yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!_

"I think that would be okay," I said, trying to remain calm.

His face lit up and he grinned.

I smiled back, laying my fork back down on my plate.

"I'm so full," I laughed, "I can usually eat my way through a huge plate of anything, but tonight, I'm just stuffed."

"Me, too. I love food," Edward sighed.

"Really? I'm a chef, so, food is like my life," I smiled.

He nodded and we both stood up from the table and returned to the living room, sitting on the same couch, but closer than the first time.

We started talking. We talked about anything and everything, and it felt like hours passed by. I felt my eyes drooping to a close as I listened to Edward's honey-sweet voice and I felt my head drooping slowly, slowly…

--

The door slammed and I opened my eyes. My head was lying against Edward's chest and he jumped slightly.

We had fallen asleep on the couch, with my head on his chest and his arms wrapped around me. We sat up quickly as Alice walked into the living room.

"Well, we'll just have to have another dinner next time. They have to take their car to the shop. How was your evening?" Alice beamed.

:"The food was great, little sister in law," Edward smiled.

"It was really good," I nodded.

I stood up.

"I think I better be going home, it's late."

Alice nodded and walked me to the door, Edward following.

"Well, goodnight Bella!" Alice said, hugging me tightly.

She skipped off in the other direction and left Edward standing there alone with me.

"She's such a little plotter," Edward laughed.

"She is… She's always up to something," I agreed.

"Well, I guess this is goodnight, Bella." He said, looking regretful.

"Yes, you can call me when you want to go on our date," I smiled, placing my number on a piece of paper in his hand, "I really had a great time tonight."

"Me, too," he said.

I felt my body inching closer to his, and I knew that I wanted to kiss him but I wasn't ready for it yet.

"Goodnight, Edward," I said quickly as I stood on my tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek, surprising him.

I turned to leave and got into my car. I looked up at the front door. Edward was still standing there, touching his cheek and smiling as if he had just found out the best news in the world.

I realized right then and there that I really, really liked Edward Cullen.

**--**

**Reviews are LOVE. **


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hello, again. Thank you so much to everyone for the reviews and faves. If you didn't comment last time but you faved the story, I really appreciate it. Don't be afraid to tell me what you think though, I promise I won't bite!**

**I'm glad to see that everyone is liking my story. I have up through Chapter 3 or 4 written already, but I'll probably go back and change some things before I post. Anyway, since I'm impatient, you'll probably be getting the chapters fairly quickly. Alright, enough of my ramble, on to Chapter 2!**

**Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own Edward and Twilight and all characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.**

**--**

**Chapter 2**

Edward

I yawned loudly as my iPod played Suite Pour Violoncelle N°1 by Bach. It was a nice, peaceful song to awaken to. I rubbed my eyes sleepily; it was six a.m. and time for me to start my new job. I tried to remember what happened last night. Had I really met Bella or had it merely been a dream? It had been one of the most perfect nights of my life since I had ever dated anyone. And I was looking forward to the next time I got to see her already.

After getting past the fact that I was being a horny sleaze and thinking about getting into her pants already, it had been a great time. She had even kissed me on the cheek. I touched my cheek again as I stood in the mirror, remembering the sweet warmth of her lips there. I sighed happily. My hair was its usual mess of hopelessness, but I didn't even care this morning. I was in too good of a mood.

I turned on the water in the shower and slipped my boxers off before stepping under the warm water. The water flowed down my body, slowly making its way to the drain as I thought of Bella. I had never been so happy to see a woman again. None of the girls I had ever met had ever made me feel so… _happy_. I hadn't been this happy in years.

I turned the water off and stepped out of the shower, wrapping a towel around my body. I went to the closet and pulled out a set of scrubs and a lab coat, laying them on the bed as I went back into the bathroom. I brushed my teeth and toweled my hair dry. After looking at myself one last time in the mirror I went back to my bedroom and got dressed.

Today was going to be an excellent day.

--

Bella

My alarm buzzed loudly in my bedroom, the buzzing echoing off the walls. I groaned and pulled my pillow over my head.

7 a.m. is way too early for anybody to get up and get ready to go to work. I had to be at the restaurant at 9 even though it doesn't even _open_ till 10 a.m.

After the perfect weekend, I wasn't ready to go back to work. I wanted to go back and see Edward more than I wanted anything else the whole weekend, but I didn't want to satisfy Alice. I wasn't going to let her know how much I liked Edward.

I had thought about texting him a couple of times this weekend, but I wasn't going to make the first initiative. I didn't want to seem too easy. My fingers itched to type him a quick message as I checked my Blackberry. I didn't have to worry though, there was a text from him already.

**[6:30am] I know it's early but just wanted to say have a great Monday. Can't wait to see you soon.**

I felt my heart melting into a puddle. I shouldn't feel this way about a guy, damn it. I hit the reply button.

**[7:05am] Thanks, you too. Also looking forward to seeing you again.**

It didn't sound too anxious, I hoped. I agonized over the exact phrasing, changing words here and there, removing words, until finally I came back to the same message I had said in the first place. I hit send.

I placed my Blackberry on vibrate and placed it in my bag. I dug through my closet, searching for my clothes for work. I finally found an outfit that was suitable and looked at the clock. It was 7:30.

"Shit," I muttered, running into the bathroom and turning on the shower. I tried to move faster than usual and showered quickly.

It was 7:50 when I stepped out of the shower.

I grabbed my towel and started to dash into my bedroom, but I slid on the tile, knocking my wrist against the side of my sink. I heard a loud _crack_ and I cried out in pain.

I held my wrist to my body and walked into my bedroom, grabbing my bag and pulling my Blackberry out. I dialed the restaurant.

"Luigi's Italiano Cuisine, this is Emily, how may I help you?"

"Em, it's Bella… I can't come into work. I think I just broke my wrist and I'm going to have to go to the emergency room."

"Oh, gosh, Bella. We'll call Luigi and get him to cover for you."

"Thanks, Emily."

I ended the call and then dialed Edward's cell phone.

"Hello?"

"Edward, it's Bella… I think I just broke my wrist."

"Oh, Bella. I'll call Alice and tell her to drive you to the ER and I'll check it out for you."

"Thanks, Edward. I'm sorry I have to see you again so soon under these circumstances," I laughed nervously.

I heard him chuckle softly.

"I would say I'm glad to see you, but I'm not glad that you're hurt. Don't worry, though, I'll fix your wrist. See you soon, goodbye Bella."

"Goodbye, Edward," I whispered.

My wrist was throbbing. It was really hard to pull a pair of jeans on and get a t-shirt over my head. Just as I finished getting dressed, there was a knock on my door.

I opened it and found Alice standing there.

"Gosh Bella, if you wanted to see Edward this bad, you didn't have to break your wrist!" she said, glaring at me.

"I didn't break it on purpose, Alice. You know how clumsy I am," I sighed.

She nodded, understanding.

"Let's get you to the emergency room so Edward can fix you," she said, taking my keys from me and locking the door behind us.

--

Edward

I paced the hallways anxiously waiting for Bella to arrive. The emergency room wasn't busy today. It was good news for my first day, knowing that I wasn't going to be under a lot of pressure or stress. As soon as Bella called though, my stress level went up about 200%. I tried to keep telling myself it may only be a small fracture; she might not have broken her wrist completely in two.

About thirty minutes after she had called me and I had called Alice, a shiny yellow Porsche pulled up at the emergency room entrance. Alice dropped Bella off and drove the car on around to the parking lot.

She walked in the door, holding her wrist to her chest and grimacing slightly.

"Edward," she sighed, spotting me as I rushed to her.

"Let's get you to an exam room," I said, grabbing the necessary paperwork from the receptionist and taking her back to a room.

I opened the door and she sat down on the exam table.

"Alright, let's see your wrist," I said, gently taking her hand into mine.

It was swollen and there was a lot of bruising. I was pretty certain she had split it completely in half, but I needed an x-ray to confirm.

"It's broken, I'm afraid," I said, frowning, "We're going to have to get an x-ray to make sure. First of all, though, we need to fill out this paperwork… I kind of uh… skipped it because I was worried about you."

She smiled slightly, "Edward, I'm not dying or anything. I just have a broken wrist. It hurts like hell, but it'll heal. I've broken bones before, almost one every year of my life."

I sighed, "Sorry for being a concerned worrywart."

"No, I like that you care about my well-being, I didn't mean that I didn't want you to care," she said, looking up at me timidly.

I smiled, taking her good hand in between mine.

There was a knock on the door.

_Alice_.

"Come in," I said quietly, laying Bella's hand on her lap and grabbing my clipboard.

"Bella, _there_ you are. Edward's such a spazz when people he cares about get hurt," Alice said, glancing at me with a smirk.

I rolled my eyes at her.

"Anyway, I'm going to be out in the waiting room, unless you need me?" she asked, looking at Bella.

"No, I think I can manage Alice. I just have to fill out paperwork and then I'm going back for an x-ray," Bella replied.

Alice took another look at me and grinned before walking out.

"She's leaving us alone on purpose," Bella said, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, she's always up to something." I agreed.

"It's obvious that we like each other, but I'm pretty sure she's already planning our wedding for us," Bella sighed.

I looked at her, kind of astonished.

She realized what she had said and then her face reddened.

"I…um… sorry. I just was using that as an example, you know, I—"

I stopped her rambling and placed my lips against hers, taking her off guard. She moved her good hand up to my hair and held my face close to hers, not letting my lips loosen their grip. I moved my free hand onto her waist and she moved her hand down to my neck. My lips moved softly against hers, her tongue running along my bottom lip. She started moving her hand onto my chest and as she started to move lower, I felt my dick hardening, aching for her touch. Her hand barely grazed the area, causing my whole body to go insane.

"Fuck," I murmured against her lips, dropping my clipboard that was in my other hand. It fell to the floor, making a loud bang. Our lips separated completely and we were both gasping for air, our eyes locked.

I didn't know what compelled me to kiss her, I had wanted to since the moment I had met her. Her beauty had overwhelmed every sense in my body .I had never expected to kiss her for the first time in an exam room in the hospital while she was in there with a broken wrist, though. I didn't know what had come over me, but I had just kissed her. It had been amazing, too. And she had almost given me a hand job right there in the middle of the exam room. _Sweet fucking Jesus Christ._

"So, um… Paperwork," I reminded us both, grabbing my clipboard from the floor.

I watched her bite her lower lip and then her chocolate eyes locked with mine again for a brief second.

"Edward," she whispered.

I took my eyes off of my clipboard and looked at her.

"I think that, we should… get my x-ray done. We can do the paperwork while we wait on them to develop," she said, avoiding my gaze.

Maybe kissing her hadn't been the best idea.

"Okay, if that's what you want," I said, trying to hide the pain I was feeling.

She stood up and I paged the x-ray technician to take her down to radiology.

There was a knock on the door a few minutes later and she turned to go.

"Bella?" I said, sure that I was lying when I knew what I was going to say.

She turned around to look at me, her eyes meeting mine again.

"I'm sorry I kissed you," I whispered.

"I'm not," she said, giving me a gentle smile as she opened the door and walked out of the exam room.

The door clicked softly to a close and I sat down on the exam table, running my hands through my hair.

--

Bella

Why had I been such a bitch? Edward was—is—_amazing._ My wrist was on fire and my head was swimming with the memory of his kiss. His lips against mine, his hand on my waist… What the hell had _my_ good hand been thinking when it moved to his chest and started heading for hand job central?! I had barely run my hand against his _fucking penis!_ I wanted Edward to do me right there on that exam table, that was for sure, but I couldn't allow myself to do that—yet. Why did I just think _yet_?! Sex could make or break a relationship. I had known Edward a weekend and I already wanted him to do me! There was something wrong with me.

The x-ray technician gave me a lead vest and I lay on the x-ray table, holding my wrist out to the side so it could be x-rayed.

I sighed loudly and the technician gave me a funny look. _Fuck off_. You're not Edward. I was getting myself in a deep mess already. I was attracted to the most beautiful hunk of man I had ever seen in my life and I had nearly given him a hand job in the middle of an exam room while I had a broken wrist that hurt like hell.

_Fucking insane._

--

Edward

About fifteen minutes later, Bella was brought back to the exam room. The technician told me the x-rays would be developed in about 30 minutes. They were running behind. _Just fucking great, more sexual tension in this small, hot room_.

I had been thinking about her the whole time she was in radiology.

"Hi," she said, timidly walking into the room.

I smiled at her.

"Bella, we're stuck in this room for the next thirty minutes, I worked on your paperwork with the help of Alice while you were gone, so we have nothing to do, maybe we should, uh… get some fresh air," I suggested.

She looked at me and then looked off to the side, avoiding my gaze, "Edward, I'm sorry about you know, before when my hands went… a little uh… crazy?"

My dick twitched at the memory. _Fuck, this woman was going to kill me._

"It's fine, Bella, don't worry about it," I said, trying to avoid the subject.

"I don't usually, you know, act like that. I'm usually a much better, well-behaved person. I mean, I've never wanted to—never mind." She said, looking away again.

"Bella, what were you just going to say?" I said, raising an eyebrow at her.

"It's not important, Edward," She said, glancing at me.

She had my curiosity irked.

I moved closer to her, my face only inches from hers.

"Tell me," I pleaded, looking at her up through my eyelashes.

Her breathing picked up a little bit and I could have guessed her heart was beating faster in her chest.

"I've never wanted to do someone more than I've wanted to do you when you kissed me," she whispered, finally raising her eyes to meet mine.

My dick hardened in my pants, pushing against the fabric.

She looked down, and looked back up at me, smirking slightly.

"It's a mutual feeling," I said, wanting to slam her against the exam table and fuck her senselessly.

She used her good hand and reached down, grabbing the bulge in my pants. I groaned loudly, my forehead against her shoulder.

"Fuck. Bella. We can't," I said, stifling back the moan in my throat and trying to maintain my resistance, "We don't know each other and—FUCK!"

"You know you like it," she whispered, her teeth nipping the tender flesh on my neck.

She had slipped my pants down just enough and had her hand down my boxers, massaging my dick in her hands.

_God, she's a fucking tease._ Two can play at that game.

I spread her legs apart and cupped her center through her pants. She moaned loudly, her grip tightening and squeezing harder.

I shut my eyes, moaning against her shoulder.

This was insane; I was about to the point of throwing her on the table and doing what I wanted when there was a knock on the door.

"Shit," I muttered, quickly pulling my pants back up.

She straightened herself on the table and we opened the door. It was Alice.

"I've been standing outside of this door for the past ten minutes. You two are quite loud and vocal, but really, an exam room in the hospital? And you guys have known each other three days! I wanted you both to get some, but not this soon!" she started.

"Alice, this is none of your business," Bella said, glaring at her.

"Well, since Edward is living in my house and seeing as you're my best friend, it kind of is my business," Alice retorted.

"Alice, some privacy please," I said, finally looking at her.

"Fine, I'll leave you two alone so you can finish what you started. Edward, you can't leave this room with _that_ anyway," she said, gesturing to my erection.

I glared at her.

"Get out, Alice," I said, firmly.

She pulled the door to a firm slam behind her.

"Edward," Bella said, placing her hand on my shoulder.

I shrugged it off.

"What the hell is your problem?" she said, glaring at me.

"I almost had sex in an exam room in the hospital that I just started working at. That could get me fired. I've never been so loose in my feelings. I've never wanted to throw someone against an exam table and fuck their brains out. And then I met you. Everything's changing. Fuck, Bella! I've only known you three days and we're already getting touch happy with each other! I've wanted you, wanted to touch you, wanted to feel your body beneath mine, wanted to feel you, and wanted to kiss you… I've wanted all of that, all of you, since the first moment I met you. I'm terrified. I've never felt this way before, and it's all happening so fast, it's too fucking sudden. I already don't want to let you walk out of this exam room. I look forward to every second that I get to see you, and I can't do this! I'm not ready for this!" I was yelling by the time I got to the end, not sure what had come over me.

"Fine, Edward. Fine. Just fucking perfect. I'd like a new doctor to fix my wrist, please. I want to go home," she looked one last time at me and she walked out the door.

I hadn't meant to be such an ass. I didn't know what I wanted; I was scared of what I wanted. I wanted Bella, and it was all happening too sudden and perfectly for the messed up timing of my life. I had really just screwed up one of the best things I might have had.

--

Bella

My left wrist had been broken, just like that bastard had said. It was in a brace now. I didn't even know him and he was already breaking my heart. I shouldn't have let myself feel so deeply about him already when I had been right from the start. He was a superficial asshole. He had played me that whole time, just to get into my pants. I should have known that it wouldn't work out.

It was late at night and I was sitting in front of my flat-screen, drinking Bacardi from the bottle. I was a pretty tough drinker, but only in situations where I felt like I needed to get drunk and forget my troubles. I hadn't drunk much of the bottle when my doorbell rang. It was 11:27p.m. Who the hell would be here this late?

I opened the door and almost slammed it in his face.

"Bella, I'm sorry," Edward said, "Can I come in?"

I took a swig of rum.

"I don't really want you to, but I guess so. Have you come back to try and get in my pants again?"

"No, Bella. Fuck, I thought this was going to be difficult, but I never expected that. I didn't say all of that to get into your pants. I really do care about you. I'm just not sure what I want. I've never been in a relationship longer than a year. And in that one year that I was with this girl, I never felt the way I felt about her in just the three days that I've known you. It terrifies me; this feeling is new to me. I've never felt my heart bring someone so close, and it's happening so fast…" he trailed off.

I bit my lip. I hadn't thought about it like that yet.

"Edward," I said, running the back of my good hand across his cheek, "I'm so confused, too. I've had this list my whole life of what I wanted to do and I've never even thought of fulfilling my numbers 5-8… Number five is fall in love, six is get married, seven is a beautiful farmhouse, and eight is beautiful babies… It was a stupid list that I made when I was a teenager, but I've never even dreamed I would fulfill it. There has never been a guy that I've wanted so much in my life. There's never been anyone that makes me feel the way you do. And I'm scared, just like you are. I've been in denial, holding back the feelings that are starting to surface, and I should have realized I understood you back in the exam room, but I was being stupid, and I'm sorry too." I hadn't realized I had those words in me until I heard almost the exact same things from Edward.

"We need to slow down," he whispered.

"I agree," I said, nodding.

"Should we start over?" he asked.

"No," I said, watching his confused expression, "Let's continue where we left off, sort of."

He was still looking slightly confused, so I put my right hand on his cheek, and kissed his lips softly. This was where we should start.

He slid his hand onto my waist and kissed me back, his lips moving against mine. It wasn't as wild or frantic as the first kiss had been, it was gentler.

He laid me down on my couch, resting his body tenderly against mine. We continued kissing, his lips moved down to my neck, his lips brushing softly against my skin. He grazed them across my collarbone, moving slowly down and kissing the top of my breasts.

I kissed his neck too, moving my lips across his jaw and shoulder and back up to his face.

This was much nicer than our frantic desire before.

"Edward, I know we said we wanted to slow down, but I—" I began, but he stopped me.

"I know, Bella. Are you sure you want to do this, so soon?" he asked, his eyes holding nothing but concern as they watched mine.

"Yes," I whispered, my lips against his ear, "Make love to me."

He picked me up in his arms and cradled me to his chest as he carried me to my bedroom. He laid my body down on the covers, and I pulled his shirt off. I moved my hands along his abs and he kissed me softly, pausing to take my shirt off. He moved his lips down my chest, running his tongue across my hardened nipples and down to my naval. I slid his pants off of his hips and he did the same for mine, his hand running along my thigh, kissing alongside each of my knees. He slid my panties down my leg and I slid his boxers off, exposing his hardened length.

I ran my hand along his back, feeling the muscles tensing and releasing. He ran his hand along the underside of my arm, tenderly and he kissed me again.

He kissed me again, his lips lingering against mine as he thrust inside of me. There wasn't anything rushed or frantic or desperate. It was simply pure, sweet bliss. I moaned softly and looked into his green eyes, seeing the tenderness, the sweet beauty that had been replaced by anger earlier. Now, we were both different. Everything was changing and it was going to be a long journey to get through. Everything was new, we were new, emerging as one person instead of two. Could you really fall in love with someone in three days? Was _this_ what love truly was?

The feeling that no matter what happens or who gets in the way, nothing can separate the unity? The feeling that someone else makes you feel complete? It had been three days. I had seen him the first day and two days had gone by before I had seen him again. They were a very long and lonely two days. Would the rest of our lives feel incomplete without each other in them? I wanted to know the answer to those questions, but now wasn't the time. Right now, I was happy. My sweet pleasure overcame my body and so did his. And we were defying the forces of gravity just for that one split second.

As his green eyes melted into my own and our breathing was rhythmic in a heavy laboring, I realized that it didn't matter what the answers to my questions were.

Edward Cullen was now a part of me and he was one part of me that I didn't want to let go of.

--

**A/N: Love it? Hate it? Let me know. Reviews are love and they make me happy!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hi guys! I just wanted to say thank you for all the reviews and faves and story views! I appreciate them all and read them all, and they make my day. My apologies for taking such a very long time to post a new chapter of the story! My laptop got broken and then it was gone for like 2 weeks, but now it's back and now I bring you Chapter 3 of Close to the Heart ;).**

**--**

**Chapter 3**

Edward

The past three months of my life had been nothing but blissful. After that one day, that one stupid argument, Bella and I had been inseparable. It was strange how one night and one moment—how one _person_—could turn your whole world around. Our one night of sweet passion had turned into several nights a week of the same thing. Our sex life hadn't been a problem, but things had slowed down. We were softer now, not as frantic to shred each other's clothes off. It had been three weeks since we had even had sex.

I wasn't complaining though, which was odd. The best moments that I had spent with Bella in the last few months were the simple ones. Lying on her bed, talking until the late hours of the night when she finally drifted off to sleep against my chest, watching her sleep peacefully, listening to her talk about her life, just little things like that were what made me care about her so much.

My life had done a three hundred and sixty degree turn. I went from not wanting another relationship to right smack in the middle of the best relationship I had ever been in. Bella was truly amazing and I was thankful that she was mine.

She was on her way over tonight; Alice and Jasper were out of the house, having dinner and taking a trip up to the mountains. Alice's daughter was due in the next few weeks and they wanted one last weekend before they had the baby. Alice had left the Porsche behind too, a strange occurrence. That car was like her _child_.

I buttoned up my green shirt and went down to the garage, sitting on the hood of Alice's Porsche and waiting for the familiar site of Bella's gold car.

I had only been sitting there a few minutes when she pulled up. I went to her door and opened it for her. And then I noticed what she was wearing.

_Somebody kill me now._

She had on a body-hugging black dress that fell right in the middle of her thigh. It had sleeves, but the sleeves came into a V, dropping down her chest and accentuating her cleavage. I started to wonder if she was wearing _this,_ what the hell was she wearing underneath?

Bella's outfit choices never ceased to surprise me and make me want to throw her against a wall. I had considered it countless times, but I restrained myself and made it to the bed instead.

Looking at her right then, watching her smirk as I looked her body up and down, Alice's Porsche sitting right there in the garage…

I _couldn't_. Alice would have me for breakfast if I fucked Bella on the hood of her car. And we were in the middle of the suburbs. Yet it sounded so, so tempting.

Oh, fuck the fact that we're in the suburbs and Alice will kill me. Her car screams do me, she should've known that when she bought it.

"Bella?" I said, looking at her seductively up through my eyelashes.

I watched her expression, remembering what this look did to her.

"Yes, Edward?" She managed to squeak in response.

I moved closer to her and kissed her, moving my hand down to her ass and squeezing gently. She moaned, her hands threading into my hair.

I moved my lips along her jaw and tugged her earlobe with my teeth.

"Alice left the Porsche, and I'm going to fuck you on the hood of it," I whispered, tugging against the tight fabric on her thighs and running my hand underneath her dress.

_She wasn't wearing anything underneath that dress. _

"Bella, you're going to be the death of me," I murmured against her neck. She leaned her head back, moaning.

"Edward, Alice is going to kill us," she said, pushing me back a little.

I moved my hand across her wet center, slowly sliding a finger across her clit.

"It doesn't matter what Alice does to us though, it will be worth it," she said hurriedly, kissing me hastily.

It had been three weeks and I had been eyeing the Porsche the whole time.

I sat Bella on the hood and found the zipper in the back of her dress, sliding it down and then yanking the dress off of her body. She yanked my shirt open, sending the buttons scattering all across the driveway.

Her hands were fumbling with my pants and she finally got them undone and slid them down my legs. I stepped out of them and she slid my boxers off. I pushed her against the windshield, her back sliding against the hood. I gently climbed on top of the Porsche and Bella grabbed my hair, yanking my face towards her lips.

She kissed my bottom lip then pushed her tongue into my open mouth. Our tongues clashed and her hands were still in my hair. I ran my hand along her side and she shivered beneath the light contact. I pulled my lips apart from hers and she gasped as I moved myself slightly lower and my hand cupped her livelihood. Her body bucked towards my hand as I moved it away.

"Edward," she growled, "I'm going to _kill_ you."

I chuckled loudly, my laughter reverberating off of the walls of the garage. My laughter ceased.

She had her hand on my throbbing cock, sliding slowly up and down.

"You—Shit!" I said, glaring at her. She squeezed a little harder.

"Bella," I groaned. Her hands were warm and soft as they moved against my length.

"Lie down," she commanded.

I did. I lay down on my back and she sat between my legs before taking my whole cock in her mouth.

"Bella, you have no idea how that _feels._" She was running her tongue along the tip and I knew I couldn't hold back my pleasure much longer. I felt myself succumbing and I expected her to move away but she didn't. She sat there and swallowed every drop.

_Damn._

I grabbed her hips and flipped her over quickly, surprising her with my rough, sudden movement.

"Edward," she said, her voice raspy, "Fuck me. _Now._"

I'd never seen that side of Bella before, but I liked it.

I thrust myself deep into her hot center, and she moaned loudly, growling my name.

I drove myself fast and deep into her, my cock hitting the walls of her core. I moved my teeth along her neck and shoulders, and she only moaned louder.

I fucked her hard, just like I had wanted to that day in the exam room. I wanted to throw her against that exam table and drive my throbbing erection deep within her. I wanted to hear her say my name, I wanted to make that whole hospital know that Bella was _mine_. I wanted to fuck her like an animal and that was exactly what I did now. I watched her, throwing her head back, her pleasured cries ringing off the walls of the garage. I watched her getting off because of me; I had never felt so possessive nor so turned on by one person.

"Fuck, Edward, don't stop," she whimpered. I felt her walls constricting around my cock and I pulled her closer to me, thrusting one final time before I sent her over the edge. She gasped loudly, groaning as her hands clawed against the hood of the car. I pushed myself deeper again, feeling her ecstasy overwhelming her again when I surrendered to my own release.

My body fell gently against hers and we breathed heavily as we lay there. Her hand rubbed soothingly against my back and she kissed me softly.

There had been nothing sweet about fucking Bella on the hood of Alice's yellow Porsche 911 Turbo. There had been nothing gentle. But right now, right then, I felt closer to Bella than I had ever felt to anyone in my life. I wasn't the same person I had been when I moved to California three months ago. My heart had been subjected to new feelings, and they were feelings that I didn't want to take back. Laying there on the hood of that car, I realized that Bella was my life now. I didn't want to spend a moment without her. I wanted every day to be as perfect as this moment we were in right now. Three months seems like a short time, but it can change everything, that's for sure.

--

Bella

I woke up in Edward's arms, in his bed. Last night had been one of the wildest things I had ever done in my life. But the risk, the fact that anyone could have walked by and seen us, seen Edward fucking the hell out of me, it was such a turn on. I had always liked things rough, but I hadn't realized how much until then.

I realized how important Edward was to me a long time ago, but now, I realized how much I needed him. If he left me, if I lost him, I didn't know how I would function. He was a part of me, and I hoped that I was a part of him.

I watched his chest rising and falling and his eyelashes fluttering, a smile spread across his face.

What was he dreaming about? Was he happy? He appeared to be happy. Was he dreaming of me? I ran my hand under the cover and felt… _Oh._ He was dreaming about me in _that_ way. I liked this. I slid my hand along the side of his erection, causing him to stir lightly in his sleep. I crawled under the covers and felt a hand groping my ass.

"Well, good _morning_, Bella," he chuckled.

"Don't you want me to finish?" I said, flicking my tongue across the tip of his cock.

"More than you could possibly know; however, I have to get to work," he sighed.

I slid out from under the covers and gave him a sexy pout.

"You're not helping in my resistance, you know," he grinned.

"That's the point," I laughed.

He rolled towards me and hovered himself over my body. He looked into my eyes and kissed me softly, his hand on my cheek.

"I hate to leave this beautiful, horny woman in my bed, but I have to," he said, getting up and heading towards the shower.

I nodded, knowing that I had to get to work as well.

"You can use Alice's bathroom down the hallway," he said, rolling his eyes, "She said to tell you that while you were here, her bathroom was all yours. I guess she expected _this_. I just hope she doesn't find out about the Porsche."

"If she ever found out we had sex on her car, I don't even want to imagine the wrath of Alice we would face," I said.

He grinned and shut the shower door behind him.

I had been in Alice's bathroom before, but she had remodeled it and made it bigger since the last time I had been in there.

I walked in the door and my mouth literally fell open.

The walls were a deep purple and there was a black Jacuzzi tub lined with fresh violets and white candles around it. There was also a walk-in shower off to the side, and it was the largest walk-in shower I had ever seen. I swear you could fit ten people into it. The floor was a cherry colored wood, the same wood that was in the rest of the house. It was one of the prettiest rooms in Alice's house. I envied her because of this bathroom.

I turned on the water in the Jacuzzi tub and poured bubble bath in as the water ran.

I sank down into the water and felt the bubbles fizzing underneath the surface. _The possibilities of this bathtub were endless_.

I had to remember to bring Edward in here before Alice returned.

I relaxed in the warm water and let the relaxation ease the tension in my muscles. I looked at my phone and realized I had been in the tub for 30 minutes. I was going to be late again. _Shit._

I was late on a regular basis, especially now that Edward and I were together. All the time I spent with Edward and the things that we did that made me late—usually—were well worth it, but my boss was threatening me with the possibility of losing my job. I was the best chef the restaurant had ever had, but I could be easily replaced. There were hundreds of amazing chefs in California that would love to have my job and who would be _on time_.

I started rushing and throwing my clothes on, not even bothering to dry my hair. Edward was in his bedroom. I kissed him quickly on the cheek and ran out the door. He knew that I was running late again.

I hopped in my car and turned the ignition, backing out of Alice's driveway and heading down the main intersection. The traffic was _awful_. I started speeding around cars and that was when it happened.

There was another car pulling the same swerve maneuvers that I was, except the driver of this car wasn't in a hurry to get to work. The driver was slightly intoxicated. I'm not sure why anyone would want to be drunk at 7am, but I guess some people have some serious problems.

Anyway, the car attempted to U-turn into the traffic going the way that I was heading and just as I swerved to move through the traffic faster, the front end of the other driver's car collided with the driver's side of my car.

I remember seeing lights heading towards me and I remember a pain in my side and feeling blood gushing out of my head. And then I blacked out.

--

Edward

There were two car accident victims in the emergency room right now. I had been paged to come help out. The driver of a car had collided with the driver's side of the other car. The person who crashed into the car and whose fault the accident was, well, he had minor injuries except for the fact he was going to be arrested for reckless driving and a DUI. The woman in the other car, she wasn't so lucky. She had a head wound that would need stitches, and some broken ribs, possibly a broken arm or leg. She was most likely going to make it, but she was going to be in the process of a long recovery. The hospital interns had been sent off to run blood tests just as I got down there.

I looked at the woman lying on the table. Her hair was mahogany, she was small but pretty. Her eyes popped open and stared at mine.

_Oh no._ I would recognize those chocolate brown eyes anywhere.

_Bella._

"Edward," she whispered, looking at me.

I couldn't move. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't think. Bella was hurt. Badly.

My head was swimming, my thoughts were muddled, and my brain wasn't functioning rationally. I had people looking at me for answers, but I couldn't give those answers.

I felt my body collapsing and I fell to the floor, hearing people in the background.

"Dr. Cullen? Dr. Cullen! He's fainting!"

--

Bella

I woke up and looked around me. There was something up my nose, and I felt something in my arm. Ugh, needles. I tried to breathe and felt a sharp pain in my chest. The walls around me were white and there were generic pictures around the room. I had been here before. _Hospital._

My memories started flooding back to me. I had been in an accident. Edward had been in the emergency room. He hadn't looked so well. I looked to the chair in the corner of the room. He was sitting there, a bandage on his forehead, looking rather worried.

What had happened?

"Edward?" I said, meeting his eyes.

"Bella," he said, relief overwhelming his voice, "You're awake, finally."

"Edward, what happened to you?" I said, biting my lip.

"I, um… I passed out. I saw you lying there in the emergency room, and I was terrified. I mean, I knew you were going to be fine, but I was worried about you." He said sheepishly.

I smiled. He had pulled his chair over to my bedside. He laid his hand against my side and I placed mine on top of his.

"I'm going to be okay, right? I mean, it hurts when I breathe, and my leg feels kind of numb," I asked.

"Yes, you're going to be perfectly fine. You had a head wound that had to be sutured up and you have a small fracture in your leg. Ah, and you broke some ribs. But other than that, you're fine. We're just waiting on your blood work to get back to make sure that everything is perfect like it should be. Actually, your blood work should be back any second now. I'm just waiting on the lab." He said, smiling reassuringly.

I sighed, looking at him.

"I shouldn't have been speeding to work; I should have just slowed down. I'm probably fired by now anyways," I said.

He pulled my hand to his face and kissed my palm.

"I'm just glad you're okay," he smiled.

I smiled back, just as an intern walked into the room.

"Dr. Cullen, Ms. Swan's lab results are back. Do you want to look over them and discuss them with her?" she asked.

"Yes, thank you," he said, taking the results and looking over them.

He nodded, satisfied, until he flipped to the second page. He looked like he was about to faint again.

"Edward, what's wrong?" I said, confused.

He looked at them again and walked out of the room, yelling down the hallway for the intern.

"Are you sure these results are right?" he said, looking at them a third time.

"Yes, Dr. Cullen. We always double check everything. They're correct."

He glanced at me and then walked back into the room.

"Bella," he said, looking at me intently, "I have a question to ask you, okay?"

"Okay," I said, still confused.

"How many weeks late is your menstrual cycle?" he said, his expression unchanging.

"What do you mean? It's not…" I said, my voice trailing off.

Now that I was thinking about it, it _was_ late. It had been at least a week or two… But Edward and I hadn't had unprotected sex. It didn't make sense unless one of the condoms broke and we didn't notice.

I looked at him. He was still watching me very intently.

"A week or two," I said, looking at him nervously.

"You're pregnant," he said. I watched his Adam's apple bob as he swallowed nervously.

"It's not possible, Edward, I mean we always use a condom, right?" I said, closing my eyes tight to hold back the tears.

"Yes, Bella, we always have," he said. His voice sounded harsh. Was he _mad_ at me? It wasn't like I did this on purpose. I wanted to have children; I did, but… not _now._ Not _yet._

"Are you _mad _at me? It's not my fault. It takes two to make a baby, Edward. I'm sorry if I'm interrupting your life or something but it isn't entirely my fault that I'm pregnant!" I said, screaming at him.

He looked taken aback by my words.

"I'm not mad at you," he finally said.

"Then what the hell is your problem, Edward Cullen?" I demanded.

"Bella," he sighed, "I wanted this with you. Someday. I wanted to marry you someday, maybe. I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you, loving you, marrying you, watching you carry my children, but we've known each other three months. I've never felt this way with any woman that I've ever been with. I've never wanted these things with anyone, and then I met you. Our relationship has never been normal. Within three days, it was like we had known each other a lot longer than we had. And now we're here and you're pregnant and I'm not sure I'm ready for that! I realized that I care about you, more than anyone else, but this is just so… so… _overwhelming_."

"You think I'm _not_ scared, Edward? If I keep this baby, I have to spend nine months caring for it and nurturing it inside of my body. I have to spend the next eighteen plus years of my life raising this baby. And I care about you more than I've cared about anyone else too. If I'm not with you, I feel empty. I need you and it scares the hell out of me!" I said, finally sobbing by the time I reached the end of my rant.

He looked at me, torn. I didn't know what he was torn between, but he was definitely torn between something.

"I have to go see my other patients," he finally said, "I'll be back later."

I nodded and watched him walk out the door.

What the hell have I gotten myself into?

--

Edward

I couldn't believe I was doing what I was doing. I walked out of that hospital room and I left. I left the hospital and I drove home to Alice's house, grabbing a piece of stationery and leaving Bella a note. Alice would find it and give it to her or Bella would find it soon enough.

I called Alice on her cell phone, knowing she would try to talk me out of this, and halfway hoping she would.

"Hello?" she said, sounding slightly annoyed.

"Alice, it's Edward." I said.

"I know it's you, dumbass, but you're interrupting a very great moment," she huffed.

I didn't want to know that.

"Alice, Bella's pregnant," I said, getting to the point.

"WHAT?!" she nearly screamed.

"Yeah. I'm going back to Alaska." I said, knowing she was going to give me the wrath of Alice.

"You're not going to leave Bella to raise a baby by herself, Edward. Do you know how much that would hurt her if you left her like that? She loves you. You love her. You two may not admit it, but it's the truth." She said.

I knew she was right, but I hesitated before I responded.

"Alice, I do love her, I know. But I'm not ready to be a father. I'm not ready to spend the rest of my life wondering if there was someone else out there. I've never loved anyone before. You're not always supposed to marry and have children with your first love," I said.

"How can you even be thinking that there's someone else out there for you?! Have you seen yourself when you're with Bella? You look at her like a blind man seeing the light for the first time. She looks at you like she never wants to spend a moment without you. You two are meant to be together, Edward Anthony Cullen! And if you leave her, you're leaving behind the best thing that has ever happened to you and you're going to break her heart into a million pieces"

I knew that everything Alice said was true. I looked at the bags packed and laying on my bed. I looked at the picture sitting on my dresser. Bella and I. We were sitting on Alice's couch, smiling and hugging each other. Alice had taken the picture.

"I have to go, Alice," I said.

"Edward, don't do this," she said as the phone clicked off.

The right thing to do would be to go support Bella through this. The right thing to do would be to go sit by her side at the hospital and drive her home once she was healed enough. The right thing to do would be to go tell her that I loved her and that I was sorry for being an ass earlier.

But was I the kind of person that would do the right thing? I was scared shitless right now. I wasn't ready for the kind of responsibility that being a father would bring. I wasn't ready for anything. I was a coward. I had wanted this, I had wanted Bella forever only a little while ago. And now that she was pregnant, everything had changed. A baby would change everything, and I didn't want anything to change. I wanted to go back to the moments we had shared last night on Alice's Porsche. I wanted to go back to her waking up in my arms every morning. This was supposed to come later, not now.

I sealed the envelope and slid the letter I had written to her inside, addressing it with her name on the front. I grabbed the letter and slid it in my pocket, deciding to drop it off at the hospital.

I looked at my bags again before finally picking them up and walking out the door.

I was making a huge mistake, but I was a coward. And I knew that I would regret this decision for the rest of my life, but I did it anyway.

I left behind the love of my life.

--

I drove to the airport and went to the bar.

"Whiskey, double shot please." I said to the bartender.

"Any specifics, sir?" he replied.

"No, just give me the strongest you've got." I sighed.

He looked at me kind of strangely before setting a double shot in front of me.\

I picked up the glass and grimaced as the liquor burned in my throat.

I couldn't do this. I had to forget what I was going to do. As the liquor rushed through my system, I felt my thoughts drifting.

"_Edward," she whispered, her lips against my shoulder._

_Her legs were twisted in my sheets and her body was against mine._

_It was so peaceful, so perfect._

"_Bella, I don't want this moment to ever end," I sighed._

"_Edward, this first month that we've been together has been great, but there's more to come. I'm not going anywhere, I promise," she smiled._

_I kissed the top of her head._

What the fuck was I doing? I was sitting in an airport bar, getting ready to go purchase my ticket to Alaska so I could leave Bella.

Why was I leaving Bella? She was pregnant. I was scared. But I loved her. She was the love of my life. Alice had been right all along.

"Um, thank you," I said to the bartender as I laid a $20 bill on the counter, "Keep the change."

I slung my bag over my shoulder and went to the hospital, surer than ever that I was going where I belonged.

Bella

I opened my eyes and saw an envelope addressed to me on my bedside table. It was in Edward's neat cursive.

My heart stopped. Why would he leave me a note? Had our argument, our discussion last night, had it really upset him that much?

My hands were shaking, but I slid the envelope open and pulled out a letter.

My dearest Bella,

Everybody makes mistakes in their life, and meeting you definitely wasn't one of mine. Bella, you are the love of my life. I know that now. I love you, and I'm sorry.

Edward

There was a vase of a dozen red roses sitting next to the note. Flowers and an apology note? I felt confused… maybe it was just the pain medication. Or maybe I would be waking up from this dream any second now. My eyes slowly drooped to a close as I nodded off into a medication-induced slumber.

--

"Bella, it's me. I'm here." I heard the most beautiful voice on the planet humming in my ears. I felt a warm hand in mine.

"I can't believe I almost left you," he whispered.

I heard a sob. He was crying. _Edward was crying?_

My eyes popped open and I turned my head to the side.

Edward Cullen was crying. He was crying over _me_.

"Edward," I choked out.

"Bella," he said, wiping the tears from his face hurriedly, "I'm so, so stupid."

"What do you mean you almost left me?" I managed to say.

He smiled, another tear sliding down his face.

"Why are you crying, Edward?" I said.

"Because I am an _idiot_. After we found out about the _baby_, I was going to leave. It was the best option, or so I thought at the time, but I came back here to tell you goodbye and to leave you a letter and I couldn't do it…" he trailed off.

"What?" I said, astonished.

He looked at me.

I didn't know how to react to that. He almost left me? Why would he do that? I loved him. I _love _Edward.

"Bella, I talked to Alice before I decided to leave. She told me that you loved me and I loved you. She told me that you were the best thing that ever happened to me and that I looked at you like a blind man seeing the light for the first time. She told me everything that I secretly knew and I was still going to leave. I went to the airport and I went to the bar. I drank a hell of a lot of whiskey before I realized something. It didn't matter how terrified I was of my future. It didn't matter that I was afraid of having to face you and face what we had done together. Love is so much more important than any of that, Bella. And I love you. I love you with every ounce of myself and being. I love you more than the distance from here to the sun and back. I love you now and I will always love you. I don't expect you to forgive me for almost leaving you, but I love you and I'm not leaving you. From now until forever, I'm here to stay. I want to spend the rest of my life waking up to you, wrapped in my arms. I want to spend every moment with you until the day I die. I want to marry you, and I want us to have beautiful children together. I want to live in the beautiful farmhouse you've always wanted. I want you forever. You are my life now, Isabella Swan, and I'm not going to let myself forget that ever again." He said, his eyes never leaving mine.

I didn't know what to say. That had been the most beautiful thing I had ever heard.

"Edward, what is a girl supposed to say to that?" I laughed.

"You can tell me that I'm an idiot and that you don't want to see me ever again because of what I almost did to you," he admitted.

"I can't say that," I whispered, "If I told you to leave and never come back, I would be lying to myself. I love you, more than you could ever know. I never expected to fall in love with you. But I have. And you were going to hurt me, but you're here now and that's enough for me."

"I don't deserve your forgiveness," he sighed.

"I know, but it's not my choice. My heart speaks louder than my own words and my heart wants you here forever." I smiled.

--

**A/N: Heartfail over, back to happiness! There's some serious stuff coming up in the next chapter, so brace yourself. I'll try to get it up soon. Leave me lots of love and reviews on what you thought.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Bonjour mes amies! My deepest apologies to the fact that this update took so long. I seriously lacked some creativity, and I'm not even sure if I like the end result of this chapter. Anyway, the update is FINALLY here, and Ill hopefully get the next one up a lot sooner. **

**There is some serious stuff that happens in this chapter. So, be prepared as you read. There's also some past/present stuff going on, so the italics are present, but eventually the past catches up to the present. **

**I promise though, even though this chapter causes SEVERE heartfail, there will be a happy ending to the fic as a whole. So, I'll shut up for a bit so you can read! **

–

**Chapter 4**

Edward

Life can change dramatically in very short periods of time. I fell in love in three days and I found out that I was going to be a father in only spending three months with the love of my life. Things change for good and for bad. My life had been nothing but changes in those months with Bella. My life had been perfect. Life may be able to change in a very short time, but it can also end in even shorter times.

_Alice rushed into the emergency room, running alongside the gurney as we rushed Bella back to the operating room._

_This was not good. I had never been so panicked in my entire life. I was the doctor on duty but I couldn't do this. I couldn't watch her die._

_I felt like I was going to have a breakdown. Bella, beautiful, sweet Bella, lying there on that gurney, bleeding. It was one of the worst falls I had ever seen in my life. She was so clumsy, why had I left her alone?_

_I would never forgive myself if I lost her. I had already lost one person today and I couldn't lose the love of my life, too._

Edward

"Bella," I whispered, kissing the top of her head, "It's time to wake up."

"Edward," she groaned, "I can't get out of this bed, so why can't I just sleep all day?"

"Because, we have to take you to physical therapy and get your first ultrasound done," I smiled.

"I don't really understand how we can see the baby so soon, Edward. I mean, I'm what, nine weeks pregnant? It feels like just yesterday I found out about this baby when I broke my leg. My ribs are finally better, but my stupid leg…" she rambled.

"Bella," I chuckled, "We can hear the baby's heartbeat and you get your cast off soon, I promise."

She sighed and I helped her sit up on the side of the bed.

"And it's not that I mind all of this extra attention you're giving me, but because of this stupid leg, I haven't had sex in over a month and it's practically murder, especially when I have Edward fucking Cullen in my bed," she smirked.

I smirked back and leaned my lips down to her ear, "Don't worry; as soon as your cast is off, we'll make up for lost time."

She moaned silently and gave me a glare.

She was going to kill me for that later.

_Another doctor rushed into the operating room._

"_She's just had a fresh fracture on this leg recently, right Dr. Cullen?" _

"_Um, yes. She was in a car accident a little while ago and she broke her leg. She just got the cast off…" I replied._

"_Well, someone should have helped her down the stairs," he mumbled._

"_Excuse me?" I said, "She's walked down the stairs before now. She's just very clumsy and one of the only times that I left her in the past three months, she fell down the stairs. She didn't answer her phone so my sister-in-law went to check on her… She was at the bottom of the stairs, bleeding. Her leg is broken in two, and she lost the baby. The impact of the fall… She lost _my_ child. I _love_ her. So don't you dare start any fucking crap right now because the love of my life is lying on this god damn operating table and she almost bled to death! She could still die…"_

_I was sobbing. I had never sobbed so hard in my life. I had never _sobbed_ in my life._

_I felt a hand on my shoulder and saw it was the other doctor's._

"_Someone escort him out of here," the doctor said sympathetically, "he can't handle this surgery and he needs to be with his family so they can help support him."_

"Edward, do you think our baby will be a boy or a girl?" she said, glancing at me.

"I'm not sure. It wouldn't matter to me. If it's a girl then she'll be daddy's little girl, but if it's a boy then I can have father-son time," I grinned.

"I've always wanted a son," she said, "He would be my own little Edward."

I saw her face light up as she lovingly caressed her stomach. She was a little over two months pregnant and you couldn't tell yet.

I had thought a lot recently about how amazing it would be to watch my child growing inside of her, watching her stomach ripple as the baby kicked, and watching her belly growing larger as the baby grew. I had never thought about it in such a loving way before, but that was before I had met Bella. Everything had changed with Bella. My viewpoints could never be the same again.

We pulled into the parking lot at the OB/GYN's. Alice had recommended her own personal OB/GYN. Her baby had been born three days after Bella had been released from the hospital after her car accident. They had named her Esme after my mother. I smiled, thinking about baby Esme. She had Alice's dark hair.

I went around to the other side of the Volvo and pulled Bella's crutches out, helping her out of the car.

She hated the crutches.

She gave me a silent pout and we walked into the office. It was quiet, there weren't many people waiting. I helped her over to a chair and then signed her in.

"Edward?" she said, looking over at me.

"Yes, love?" I replied, taking her hand.

"I'm not sure why," she giggled nervously, "But I'm nervous about seeing our baby."

I smiled at her and pulled her hand to my face, placing a kiss on her palm.

"It'll be okay, Bella," I promised.

"Swan?"

I looked up as the receptionist came out the door, smiling at us.

–

_I paced the waiting room anxiously, running my hands through my hair more than I had ever done so before._

_Alice sat in the chair next to me, holding baby Esme close to her chest, rocking her._

"_Edward?" she whispered._

_I looked up at her. I imagined that I looked like hell. I had been at the hospital for my shift for nearly 12 hours and then I had been there at least another 4 as Bella was brought in. I hadn't slept well the night before, and I was sure that I had dark circles under my eyes._

"_What, Alice?" I said, maybe a little too tersely, as I watched her frown._

"_I just wanted to say that I'm sorry," she replied softly, "If I had gotten there sooner, if I had just stayed with her, if..."_

_I watched as a tear ran down her cheek._

"_Alice," I sighed, sitting down next to her, "It's not your fault. If it's anyone's fault, it's my fault. I should have known Bella wouldn't listen to me. I should have known she wasn't going to confine herself to our bedroom... I lost my child. I can't lose her, Alice. I was an idiot when I almost lost her by choice, and now losing her not by choice... I don't think I could handle that. She's the most beautiful, amazing woman that I've ever met and if I lost that, if I lost the time that I've had with her, I don't know how I could go on. I _love_ her, more than anything else in this world."_

_Alice grabbed a tissue off of the table next to us._

"_That was one of the most beautiful things that has ever come out of your mouth, Edward."_

_I smiled sadly and looked up as a doctor in scrubs came into the waiting room, motioning for me._

_This was it. _

–

Bella lay on the exam table as the nurse moved the ultrasound around on her stomach. A blurry image appeared on the screen.

"Alright, Ms. Swan, Mr. Cullen," she nodded, "This right here, is your baby."

She pointed to a small peanut-like figure on the screen.

"It looks like... a blob, Edward," Bella said, squinting at the screen and giving me a confused look.

I chuckled.

"It's our baby, Bella. It's just very small right now."

"Oh," she nodded, "Okay. I'm going to have to show this picture to Alice so she can tell me more about it."

I smiled and helped her off of the exam table as the nurse left the room.

–

"_Dr. Cullen?" the other doctor who had appeared out of the OR said._

"_Yes, sir?" I replied anxiously._

"_Bella is fine," he said, "But the baby... I'm sure you know about that. She's had a lot of damage to her uterus from the fall and she may have a hard time maintaining another pregnancy. I know that's hard to hear, but there's always adoption..."_

_I didn't hear another word the doctor said. Bella wasn't going to be able to get pregnant. There was a very low chance of her body being able to handle it. I felt my head spinning and my ears ringing as the world around me began to stop. _

_I would love Bella no matter what happened, that was true. But would she be able to handle not being able to have her own child? It was on her list. She wanted to be able to have a beautiful daughter or her own little Edward, she had said. _

_She was going to be heartbroken and it was breaking my heart to know what was coming when she found out the truth._

–

I took her to physical therapy every week. It wasn't her favorite activity, but she was in a good mood after seeing the baby.

"Alright, Bella, let's see how that leg of yours is doing," her physical therapist said.

She moved Bella's leg around in a few different directions. Bella used to wince every time that the therapist touched her, but now she was very calm.

"Well, this is great, Bella. I'm going to go grab your orthopedic surgeon. You're healing really well and it appears you may be able to get this cast off today," she smiled.

I looked at Bella and watched as her face lit up.

The doctor returned within a few minutes and moved Bella's leg around some more. I watched as a smile spread across his face, too.

"Bella, your leg is in excellent condition now. You should be on bed rest for a few weeks, and don't be climbing too many stairs as I'm sure you'll be wobbly after being on crutches for a while, but you're getting your cast off!"

She wrapped her arms around me and pulled my face down to hers, kissing my lips softly.

I smiled, squeezing her hand gently.

–

I took her home and took a few days off of work to be with her.

The first thing we did, was make up for lost time. That was a beautiful night in many different ways.

Second, I carried her upstairs and laid with her, kissing her softly as I watched her drift off to sleep.

Those few days off went by quickly, and I finally had to go back to work.

"Bella, do NOT go down those stairs by yourself. Alice will be over later to bring you some food," I commanded.

"Edward, I can climb the damn stairs!" she whined.

"Bella, please, do this for me, stay up here," I pleaded.

She sighed as I gave her the sultry puppy dog look.

"Damn it, Edward, why do you have to use _that_ look on me? You're never going to make it to work with eyes like that," she threatened.

I groaned, holding back the feeling I felt in my pants.

"Bella, I'm leaving. I love you, and I love this," I said, placing my hand on her stomach.

I kissed her softly and gave her another warning glare before I set off to work.

It was only a few hours later that I got the call. She hadn't listened to me, she had tried to go downstairs before Alice got there. And she had fallen. She broke her leg in two and well, as of ten minutes ago, I found out she injured her uterus.

And now here I was.

My life had turned upside down in a matter of a few minutes. It didn't matter to me that Bella was going to have a very difficult time trying to have a baby. I would promise to keep trying to have a baby with her as long as she wanted. I just didn't know how to break that to her.

I waited another hour until she would be mostly awake in the recovery area. They wheeled her back to her room a few minutes after I arrived.

She opened her eyes slowly and looked around the room. Her eyes fell on me.

"Edward?" She whispered.

Her voice was weak. I handed her a water glass and let her sip slowly.

She coughed a little and placed her IV-ridden hand on top of mine.

"What happened?" she asked.

"You fell down the stairs, Bella. You almost died," I whispered.

Her hand suddenly clenched around mine.

"Is our baby okay?" she said, searching my eyes.

I swallowed back the lump in my throat.

"No, Bella," I whispered, watching her expressions.

I couldn't tell what she was thinking but all of a sudden her face changed.

"Edward, why didn't you save the baby? Why did you save me?" she cried.

"Bella, the baby was dead before they even got you here. If they hadn't taken the baby out, you would have died. You almost died anyway. And..." I stopped.

"Edward, what is it? Tell me," she commanded.

Her eyes were watching mine, waiting on me to tell her what I knew that I couldn't tell her.

"Your uterus... it had some damage," I said, taking my eyes away from her.

"It's fine though, right? I mean, they fixed my uterus when they fixed my..."

I looked into her eyes again.

She knew.

"Edward, no." she said.

"It's going to be very difficult for you to get pregnant, Bella... They did everything they could but—"

"No, Edward. You're lying to me. I'm dreaming. This isn't real... This isn't REAL!!!" she burst into sobs.

I went closer to her and wrapped my arms around her frail body.

"I'm sorry, Bella, I'm so sorry." I whispered, kissing her forehead as she cried in my arms.

"Edward, why did this have to happen to me?" she asked.

"I don't know, Bella... I—As long as you want to try, we will. I'll do whatever it takes," I said, squeezing her hand.

"I don't know if I can take this, Edward. I love you with everything I have. You've been the one thing that I thought I would never find. I was going to give up on fulfilling my list, fulfilling my dreams but then I met you. You've been closer to my heart than anyone I've ever met. And I know you feel the same way... But can we take this? Can we go through the heartbreak of trying to have another baby and not being able to do it? What if I miscarry halfway through the pregnancy because my uterus is inhospitable? I can't do that, Edward. I can't do this," she admitted.

"Are you... breaking up with me?" I asked, confused.

"I don't know, Edward, I... I just think we need to take a break. We can be friends, right? I mean... Yeah. We can do this," she said.

What the hell, Bella? My own heart felt as if it had been ripped out of my chest. I promised myself that I would never let a woman get that close to my own heart. And I had. And now it was over. Over. The word came off my thoughts like vomit. It made me sick to even think about it. I couldn't take this. I wouldn't wake up to those soft brown eyes anymore, I wouldn't wake up from a night of love making next to the woman I loved...

This wasn't right, but I would do what she wanted because I loved her.

"I don't understand this," I admitted, "But, I... I guess this is it."

I let her hand slide out of mine and walked out the door.

–

**A/N: Alright guys, relax. I know, this chapter is a bitch. But I promise, there is a happy ending in sight. Bella is just confused. She has a lot of issues to work through. But things will be okay. I'm here if you need a hug or a nerve pill. Relax.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Hi again my darling readers. I know everyone is having a little bit of panic over the last chapter. Yes, Edward and Bella do need to grow up and don't worry they will. As for the baby, there's always adoption and of course, miracles do happen. Happy ending, remember.**

**I feel like the fic will be coming to a close within the next maybe 2-6 chapters, depending on my ideas. If you have any suggestions or things you would like to see happen, drop me a review and let me know.**

**Oh, and of course, I send lots of crooked Edward smiles to everyone that reviews or reads, because I really do appreciate it and love reading what you guys have to say. You inspire me, so keep on commenting.**

**Without further adieu, I give you chapter 5!**

**Chapter 5**

Bella

There wasn't really a life without Edward. I realized the moment that I saw that flash of pain across his face, the moment that he walked out the door because _I _told him to, that I had made a mistake.

I had just lost my best friend, the one person that had loved me more than I ever deserved. And it was all my fault.

It'd been ten days since I'd told Edward that we needed to take a break. And every second that had went by since then, my heart had been ripped out of my chest. It was all my fault, though, so there was no one to blame but myself.

I was on bed rest for another four days and then I would start a second round of physical therapy. My clumsiness had, yet again, gotten me into another mess. I had broken the _same_ leg in two and they had to pop pins in to put it back together. I was amazed at how numb my leg was, guess I could blame it on the pain medicine.

No amount of pain medicine could take away my heartache or stupidity I felt, though.

I had to stop dwelling on the past. I had to visit Edward. We could be friends. I picked up my Blackberry and typed out a text.

**[8:47am] I know we haven't talked in days, but I just wanted to see how you were doing.**

I waited and felt my phone buzz in my hand.

**[8:50am] Fine.**

One word answers were never good. I sighed. What was I going to say to that?

**[8:54am] Okay, I'm sorry, Edward.**

I looked at the text and hit send. It felt like forever before my phone buzzed again.

**[9:00am] Things change. I have to go.**

I stared at my screen. Why was I such an idiot?

–

Edward

I closed my phone and put it back in my pocket, running my hands through my hair. I couldn't mess it up any more than I already had.

The hospital had given me some time off to take care of Bella. The only thing was, I hadn't even seen her since I walked out the door.

I didn't want to see anyone. I didn't want anyone to see me. I looked like hell. My hair was disheveled far beyond repair, my eyes had deep, dark circles underneath them, my clothes were strewn all through the house. Hell, I hadn't even showered in over 24 hours.

It would appear to the outsider that I was falling apart, and I felt like I was. I couldn't let myself mope like this, though. It was Bella's choice for us to go on break. It was Bella's choices that broke my heart. I never wanted to feel this way ever again, and I knew that I had to get through it.

She had said she was sorry, but was she really sorry? Somehow, I felt that she was, but I couldn't let my heart feel that small twang of hope. I couldn't somehow hang on to the one little ounce of love that kept me hanging on. I had to let this go.

Seeing Bella would be a good way to recover, but was I ready for that? It didn't matter because I was going to make myself ready for it.

I pulled my phone back out.

**[9:15am] Bella, do you mind if I come by and visit you?**

**[9:17am] Sure, come on by.**

I felt my heart flutter. _Traitor_.

–

Bella

_Shit._ Edward was coming here. He was ready to see me, but was I ready to see him? I hadn't seen his eyes sparkle in a long time. I remembered the feel of his muscle-y arms wrapped around my waist, the feeling of his soft lips against mine, the feeling of—

I stopped myself.

He was only coming by to visit me as a friend. I BROKE UP WITH HIM!!! I sighed and picked up my phone. It rang twice before a pixie-like voice squealed through my ear.

"I knew you'd be calling me," she said, and I could hear the smirk in her voice.

"He's coming over, Alice," I sighed.

Alice knew. She always knew.

"I know that, I already talked to him," she squealed again.

"Alice, you're killing my eardrums. What did he say?" I asked, hoping for good news.

"Bella, I can't tell you what he said. But I can tell you the same thing I told him. You two are meant to be together. I know you guys are going through a rough patch, and I'm sorry that your lives are kind of screwy right now, but you two _need_ each other. Do you know how miserable you've both sounded for the past ten days? You two sound like your puppies got run over or your best friend got shot. You can do this."

The phone clicked off.

Why did Alice make everything sound so simple? Edward wasn't going to forgive me for breaking his heart. I couldn't even forgive myself. It wasn't as easy as an apology letter and a bouquet of daisies.

I heard the doorbell and popped my crutches under my arms and hobbled to the door.

There he stood in all his beauty. I could tell he'd had a rough time. He looked like he hadn't slept well in a while, although he looked freshly showered and had on clean clothes. As always, my clumsiness had to make an appearance.

I tripped over the rug in front of the door and fell into Edward's arms. He caught me before I could hit the pavement. I kept my face against his chest, inhaling his cologne.

The memories came flooding back.

–

"_Edward," I giggled, opening the door. _

_He smirked as I ran and jumped into the middle of the bed. He pushed me on my back, placing his lips against my neck and kissing softly._

"_Mmmm," I sighed._

"_Do you like that, Bella?" he smiled, raising an eyebrow as he looked at me._

"_You smell really good," I replied, running my hand under his shirt and along his muscles. _

–

I looked back up at him. I saw the hint of a crooked smile.

"Sorry, Edward..." I laughed nervously.

"It's alright, lo—Bella." he smiled quickly and looked down at the floor.

His arms were still around me, holding me up.

"Um, so are we going to stand here or go sit?" I said, biting my bottom lip.

"Oh. Oh!" he said, realizing we were still standing there.

He lifted me up in his arms and went and sat me down on the couch like it was a natural thing for us to do.

I coughed and looked at him as he was sitting me down.

"Shit," he mumbled, "Bella, I'm sorry, I just, I didn't think."

"Edward, it's okay. I know this isn't easy for us, and I... I made a mistake and I... I just, I feel really stupid about what I said and..." I didn't know how to say what I wanted to say, and I came out sounding like a rambling idiot.

He looked up at me. I wanted to know what he was thinking.

"What are you thinking, Edward?" I asked him, curiosity burning.

He came over to the couch and sat down beside me. He looked at me and ran his hands through his hair.

"Bella, why the hell are you telling me this?" he groaned.

"Because I mean it, Edward... I was stupid. I _am_ stupid," I answered.

"Fuck, Bella. I've been moping around like a sick puppy. I thought that this was the end of the world. And I realized that I wanted to still be friends with you because if I completely cut you out of my life, I couldn't handle it... and now you're telling me that you didn't mean a damn thing you said in that hospital room? You can't play with me like that, you can't just say one thing and then take it back the next. I can't take that, Bella."

I started crying.

His eyebrows furrowed and his expression softened as he wrapped his arms around me.

"I'm sorry, Bella, I'm sorry," he whispered.

I felt his lips on the top of my head and I started to cry harder.

"It's not you, Edward. It's me," I admitted, laughing coldly.

He looked at me, confused.

"I never knew what I wanted. I just knew that I loved you. And all I ever wanted in life was to have my list fulfilled. I wanted to get married, I wanted to have a baby, and my damn accident fucked up everything. I couldn't have what I wanted and I didn't even think that being with you would ease my pain.

These past ten days without you, all I could think about was how stupid I was. I couldn't believe what an idiot I was. I couldn't believe that I had given up _you_.

And now I know, Edward. I never needed any of those things on my list. I never needed a big fancy house, I never needed a big extravagant wedding... I was devastated that I couldn't have a baby, and I was devastated that everything I ever worked for was falling apart... But I never felt worse than in those seconds I spent without you here.

Edward, what I've always needed was _you._

I needed someone to love me, to hold me, to care for me, and to hold me so close to their heart that there was no way they could ever let go. I never thought I would change my plans, but I also never expected to find you.

I don't deserve your forgiveness because I know that I've hurt you, but I just spent the past ten minutes rambling on and on only to tell you that I'm sorry... and no matter what you choose, I will _always _be here for you."

His green eyes looked deep within mine and he took my hand, placing my palm against his lips.

"Bella," he whispered against my palm.

I looked into his eyes as he let my hand fall back into my lap.

"I can't," he said, standing up.

"Edward, what do you mean you can't?" I said, confused.

He shook his head.

"I love you. And I always will, just remember that, okay?"

His eyes never left mine as he stood up and walked to the front door.

"Edward, you can't leave," I whispered.

I stood up without my crutches and fell into the floor, crying out in pain. Yeah, it was a dumb move. But I wasn't letting him leave again. I couldn't after just pouring my heart out to him. He stopped in the middle of his path.

His eyes softened and he knelt down in the floor beside me. I looked up at him. He had a pained expression on his face, but I knew what was going to happen. We were both hurting and we needed it, needed what was coming.

He picked me up and carried me upstairs, laying me down on my bed, our eye contact never breaking.

He sat down on the bed, pulling me onto his lap and moving my injured leg out of the way to keep from causing me pain.

Our lips met, soft at first, but harder as he pulled my shirt off. I ran my hand under his shirt and felt his body shiver as I touched him.

His nose skimmed down my neck and along my collarbone, his teeth nipping against the tender flesh.

I closed my eyes, a soft moan escaping as he moved his hands against my breasts.

And then I realized something. _I couldn't do this_.

"Edward," I whispered, pushing him back a little.

"Hmm?" he murmured against my neck.

"Stop," I said louder, gasping as his hands moved my pants down.

He paused, looking at me. Then, he did stop.

"What's wrong?" he asked, confused.

"We can't—shouldn't—do this the way that we're going about doing it. We need time to grow up. I don't mean growing up by being apart either because we're not good at that. We're just making too many decisions way too fast and we just need to slow down..." I said, watching him for any signs of a rejection.

He nodded, "I see."

"You see?" I asked, surprised.

He nodded, kissing the top of my forehead and laying me down on my bed.

"I have to go back to my apartment and then I'll be right back," he smiled, grabbing a blanket and laying it over me.

"You're coming back, right? I mean, you're not just saying that so that I won't panic?" I said, hearing the panic in my voice as I asked him the question. The question that would decide everything. Was he coming back or not?

He looked at me for what felt like forever before he finally answered me.

"Bella, even if I wanted to leave you, I don't think I ever could. I don't even know what the hell I was thinking when I was walking out that door. I'm confused as hell. I don't know what I want. All I know is I don't want to lose you again."

I felt tears welling in my eyes, but held them back. He walked back to the bedside and knelt beside me, taking my hand.

"I'm sorry for being an idiot, too. We've both made a lot of mistakes and we're going to fix this," he said, making me a promise that I hoped he could keep.

"I love you, Edward," I whispered.

He smiled softly, "I love you too, Bella. And I _will_ come back."

He stood up and leaned over, kissing my lips softly. His hand lingered with mine and then he finally left, looking back to smile at me again.

For once, everything seemed like it would be okay. It wasn't perfection, nor was it what I had thought would happen, but it worked.

I had Edward Cullen back in my life, and he wasn't leaving then. He was coming back to me, just as he had promised.

I heard the door slam downstairs and closed my eyes, drifting off into the most peaceful sleep I had experienced in ten days.

–

**A/N: Aww moments always make fabulous endings to chapters. Leave me some love and opinions and feel free to share your suggestions. I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as possible.**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hello my darling readers =] I appreciate all of the love and reviews and support that you guys have been giving lately. I love reading each and every review, they all make my day. I also enjoy hearing your opinions and your love/hate on the chapters. **

**It's been a while, but here we go with Chapter 6. I have a good idea of where I want to take the story, but I'm not exactly sure how many chapters that's going to entail. I know there's going to at least be 1-2 more and probably an epilogue, but the story will probably be coming to a close soon. **

**Anyway, I've rambled enough, enjoy the long-awaited Chapter 6 :).**

–

**Chapter 6**

Edward

_I came back_. Three months ago, I came back. We fell back into our lives. We fell back in love. It all felt so surreal sometimes, but it was really happening. I wasn't living in some dream, I wasn't fantasizing about an impossible future. Bella and I were back. We were one, once again. We were right where we had belonged this whole time.

I opened my eyes slowly, feeling the warmth beside me.

I smiled as I felt her soft breath against my neck, her hand slowly searched around on top of the blanket until she found mine. Our fingers entwined together and our naked bodies pressed against the others.

"Good morning, love," I smiled.

"Good morning," she yawned, smiling sleepily as she looked into my eyes.

Things had changed. It felt as if we were back in the swing of things, only now things weren't as rushed. I didn't rush off in the morning to hurry off to work. She quit her job at the Italian restaurant and found another closer to home. We were the perfect couple. People would watch us walk down the street holding hands and they would smile, and of course, people would stop and ask us how long we'd been together. We'd tell them the truth. We'd been back together for three months.

It didn't feel like three months, it felt like we had been happy like this for years. It felt as if that one moment in time where we had been apart, those ten days of hell, and the whole fact that because of Bella's accident, if we got married anytime in the future, that we couldn't have a baby, were a part of the distant past. Our wounds had healed as much as they possibly could, including Bella's leg.

We had grown as people. We had realized how immature and idiotic we were being and now we were happy.

Of course, we still had our fights, we still argued, we still had our flaws, but after realizing our mistakes, everything was much better than it had been before.

My birthday had passed and I was another year older. Bella's birthday was coming up next week, and I knew that I had an obligation to do something special for her. I had plans circling throughout my head and knew Alice would help me make them work.

I smiled as she reached over and planted a soft kiss against my lips. Every morning had been perfect after we'd gotten back into the swing of our lives. It felt as if that one moment in time where everything had been screwed up had truly been what had fixed everything. We didn't question loving each other anymore. Because we knew we did and there was nothing that could change that.

She stood up, stretching, her back muscles tensing and releasing. I sighed happily. She looked over at me and grinned before she grabbed her robe and headed off downstairs to make us breakfast.

It would have seemed that we had the perfect life. We played the part of a perfect couple very believably and it would seem that nothing could have torn us apart. We had been torn apart too many times to find anything else to do it, so here we were. We were taped back together, and it was working.

My cell phone rang and I checked the caller ID. _Alice._

"Edward, we have to get to work on Bella's surprise birthday party. Wait, she's not in the room with you is she? According to your usual routine, you're laying there in bed while she's downstairs cooking you an omelet or something. It's Saturday, so yep, it's an omelet.

I mean, gosh, Edward, were you going to wait till forever to plan the party? You have to buy her ring and everything!" she rambled.

"Wait, ring? Alice, how did you know about that? I haven't told anyone about that!" I whined.

"Oh, Edward," she sighed, "I'm your sister-in-law. And I know everything there is to know. It's Bella's birthday. Minus the breakup incidents, you guys have been dating for a looong time. So, I had an idea that you were probably going to propose to Bella on her birthday. It's rather obvious."

It was really strange how intuitive Alice could be sometimes. It was almost as if she could tell the future.

"What do you think she'll say, Alice? I mean, she loves me, she's made that very clear, but... Does she love me enough to marry me?" I asked.

"Edward, she's your soulmate. You guys are the only people meant for each other. She'll say yes," she said excitedly.

I smiled.

"I have to go, breakfast time," I said, clicking the phone off and sighing heavily. I was going to ask Bella Swan to marry me. And I had a week to prepare myself.

–

Bella

I walked up the stairs, hearing Edward's whiny voice. Then I heard him ask a question. _Does she love me enough..._ Did I _love him enough_? Of course I loved him enough. I tiptoed up the stairs a little bit softer but then I heard him say, he had to go. Breakfast time.

How could he even question if I loved him enough? Did I love him enough for what? I was confused then.

He smiled as I walked into the room, patting his lap for me to sit down. I smirked.

"Oh, Edward," I sighed, "You and your attempts to turn me on..."

"Is it working?" he grinned crookedly.

"You know it is," I admitted, placing the tray of food on the nightstand.

"Would it work if I..." he trailed off, running his hand up under my robe and down my back.

I shivered.

He ran his hand across my wet center, sending my body into an urgent frenzy.

"Edward," I moaned.

Things were about to get good when my phone rang.

_Alice._

"Damn it," I sighed, standing up and grabbing my phone.

"Yes, Alice?" I sighed impatiently.

"Can you watch Esme today, Bella? I know it's your day off and everything, but I have an urgent situation that needs to be dealt with," she pleaded.

"Yes, Alice. You know I'd love to watch her," I smiled to myself.

"Great!" she squealed, busting my eardrum, "I'll be over in 30 minutes or less."

The phone clicked off.

"Guess what, Edward! We're watching Esme," I smiled.

His face fell.

"What?" I said, furrowing my eyebrows.

"You'll be the only one watching Esme," he sighed, "I have to go out and do something for work."

I frowned. Watching Esme was one of mine and Edward's favorite activities. She was approaching six months old, and she always made my day brighter. The only sad thing was how much I envied Alice for being able to have her. Even though I tried not to let it bother me and I remembered that I could adopt someday, it hurt that I couldn't have my own little Edward.

"I'm sorry, love," he frowned, looking at my saddened expression.

"It's okay, Esme and I can go shopping or something," I nodded.

He frowned again and walked into our bathroom, turning on the shower.

What if he wasn't going to do something for work? What if he was going to see someone else? I shouldn't have been worrying about things like that, but he had been acting odd lately. He seemed off, somewhat, and I couldn't place my finger on what it was. Maybe it was just me being paranoid.

Then his phone buzzed. I picked it up and read the text.

It was from Alice.

**[10:30am] Edward, have to plan the event. We can do it today.**

Plan _what_ event? What the hell was he doing with Alice? She's his sister-in-law!

Now, I was really confused.

Edward stepped out of the shower, a towel wrapped around his waist. I quickly threw his phone back onto the bed.

He came over to me and kissed me softly before dropping the towel.

I forgot every train of thought that I had up until that moment. I saw a hint of a smirk on his face as he looked over at me.

His body never ceased to amaze me. His rippling muscles, that sweet area right above his hips that led down to my favorite place on his body... I felt myself happily sighing aloud and looked over at Edward as he tried to hold back the laughter.

He couldn't restrain himself and he chuckled heartily.

"Bella, love, I know you're still amazed by my body, but really, you never cease to amuse me with your fascination," he smiled.

I laughed, feeling my cheeks reddening.

"It's just, you're _perfect_ Edward. There's no other human being that could be as beautiful as you," I smiled.

He laughed, "Don't flatter me, you'll make me vain."

I smiled softly and felt my mind wandering as he dropped the towel, grabbing his boxers.

He looked over at me with a mischievous look on his face.

"Yes, you're sexy as hell. And you're teasing the hell out of me, get your pants on," I giggled.

He came over and kissed my lips softly after pulling his boxers on.

"I love you, Bella," he said softly, looking into my chocolate brown eyes.

"I love you, too," I said, smiling.

"Time for work, unfortunately," he sighed and then went to put on the rest of his clothes.

I was so confused about what was going on. What the hell were Edward and Alice planning?

–

Edward

I kind of felt bad about lying to Bella about where I was going, but she couldn't know that I was planning her surprise party and buying her an engagement ring. I just hoped she would like what I picked out.

I opened the door of the jewelry store, watching the girls at the counter stare me down like a piece of meat.

_Puh-lease._ I thought, smiling to myself.

"How can I help a handsome man like yourself?" one of the girls asked, approaching me.

"Well, I'm here to buy my _girlfriend_ an _engagement ring_," I smirked.

Her face fell suddenly and she turned around to the other girls, shaking her head. They all looked disappointed.

About that time, Alice danced through the door, walking next to me and looping her arm though mine. The girl assisting me raised her eyebrows, looking from Alice to me.

"No, this is my sister-in-law," I said, rolling my eyes.

"Oh," she blushed, embarrassed, "Well, umm... sir, what's your price range for rings? We have a variety of choices, but it all depends on your price range."

I thought about it for a minute and was going to say $1000, but I knew Alice would punch me in the ribs for saying that, so I went with a less painful option and decided to splurge.

"I'd say anywhere $4000 and under," I replied.

Her eyes widened, and she led me over to the counter.

"Well, we just got this one in, 1 carat white gold princess cut solitaire... It also has this one to go with it," she said, motioning to another small band of diamonds, "Together, both of these will run about $3000, but we also have this..."

I followed her to another section of the counter and as soon as I saw the ring, I knew.

"I'll take that one," I smiled.

"That one?" she said, astonished.

"Yes, why?" I said, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, that one is um... $5,500," She said, laughing nervously.

I bit my lip, debating on it. Bella was worth millions more to me than $5,500 and I knew that this ring was the one I wanted. It was simplistic and beautiful.

Alice had been following along quietly beside me, which was clearly unusual for her.

"Edward, it's gorgeous," she said, "It screams Bella."

"Exactly what I thought," I smiled, "I'll take it."

–

Bella

Usually babysitting Esme was one of my favorite things to do, but today, all I could do was worry about what Edward and Alice were doing. Edward wouldn't cheat on his brother, he wasn't the kind of person that would do that. And Alice and Jasper were more in love than anyone I had ever seen, well, except for Edward and I.

But what were they planning? It was driving me up the wall.

I heard Edward's car pull into the driveway about 3 hours later, and I felt my nerves relaxing a little until Alice pulled in behind him.

Edward came through the door and straight into my arms, lifting me up slightly off the floor and kissing me softly.

I smiled.

"I missed you, love," he said, kissing me again.

"Missed you too," I sighed happily.

He chuckled, just as Alice walked through the door.

"Where's my little darling?" She asked, peeping around the corner.

"She's taking a nap," I said, motioning to the mound of covers and the baby on top of them.

Alice sighed happily and went over to her daughter. I watched as she lifted her up. Esme opened her sleepy eyes and looked at Alice. When she finally realized it was her mommy holding her, she grinned and Alice beamed. I watched Alice cuddle her daughter, talking to her softly and cooing at her.

I felt a soft pain in my heart. How badly I wanted to have my own daughter or my own son... how badly I wanted to be able to have my own little Edward or my own little Esme. I felt the tears welling behind my eyes, and I blinked them back quickly, burying my face into Edward's shoulder.

He tilted my chin up towards his face and looked at me concerned. Alice seemed to sense something was wrong.

"Well, um, I have to get home to Jasper, I'll talk to you all later," she smiled, grabbing Esme and her diaper bag and walking out the door.

The door clicked softly to a close and Edward pulled me to the couch, wrapping his arms around me as I lay my head against his chest.

"Bella, what's wrong?" he asked.

"Edward," I said, letting the tears go, "I was watching Alice with Esme and it made my heart break... I want a baby. I know that I can adopt one and love him or her just as much as I would love my own child, but it's not the same..."

"Bella," he frowned, "I'm so sorry. Do you want me to look into adoption? I can call some people at the adoption agency and they can begin to check us out and see if we qualify, which I'm sure we will."

"I don't know. I want to say yes, because I shouldn't be so cold and against adoption... But I... I just..." I sighed.

"I know, love, I know. But we can do this," he smiled gently and pulled me closer, kissing the top of my head.

I sighed. Loving Edward and having Edward love me back was more than most people would experience in a lifetime. Not many people had someone that loved them anywhere near as much as Edward loved me. And I imagined that someday I would marry Edward Cullen and I had once imagined we would live in a beautiful house and have beautiful children and be beautiful, successful people.

Now, a part of my dream wasn't going to come true unless someone gave me a miracle. I had never much believed in miracles and I never understood why my accident had happened to me. Maybe I needed faith, maybe I needed to let myself believe. Or maybe I just needed to keep on hoping that things would change. Yes, I could adopt a child. I could adopt a little homeless orphan who needed love just as much as I had needed it when I lost the love of my life for that short period of time. I needed love when I lost my mother, and I never thought I would find anyone that could be my best friend like she was. And then there was Edward. Edward was more than I could have ever asked for. W had been through our good times and our bad times, and we still battled those obstacles every day. Things had changed and we had finally learned to grow up and cherish each other as we should have from the very start.

A part of my dreams couldn't come true anymore without a miracle, but as long as I had Edward, I knew that everything was going to be okay.

I loved Edward with every ounce of heart and soul that my body could muster, and I loved him to the stars and back a million times over and a million times again.

I looked up into his green eyes, grabbing his hand and entwining my fingers with his.

"Edward?" I whispered.

"Yes, love?" he replied.

"I want to adopt a baby. And I want to adopt it with you, because I love you," I smiled.

He smiled back, "Okay."

Everything was going to be okay.

–

**A/N: Love it? Hate it? I tried to make sure Edward and Bella were a bit more mature this chapter. Bella's party is going to be awesome, trust me. **

**There's also going to be some surprises in store. Bella's probably going to have a freakout over Edward and Alice hanging out, but she'll soon realize, things are not what she thinks.**

**I'll try to find a pretty ring that envisions what I had in mind, too, and I'll be sharing that link.**

**Anyway, leave me some love/hate, comments, guesses, ideas, whatever you feel so inclined to tell me. More love = I'll get the next chapter up as soon as I can. ;)**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Here we are, my lovelies. I wanted to tell you all, I love reading your reviews. They make me very happy and I love to know what you think of the story, so keep on reviewing and keep on reading. **

**Here we are at Chapter SEVEN! There is going to be maybe another chapter or a really long epilogue, or both. I'm not sure which yet. There's some surprises in this chapter, BIG Surprises, but I think you'll like them.**

**Anyway, enough rambling, on to Chapter 7!**

–

**Chapter 7**

Bella

I woke up smiling. Tomorrow was my birthday. Most people would probably be a little bit disappointed at turning another year older, but with Edward by my side, I couldn't possibly be sad. I didn't know what we were doing for my birthday. Actually, I hadn't seen Edward a lot recently. He had been off "doing errands." I didn't know what "doing errands" meant, but it was starting to worry me a little. Something was definitely going on.

I had also been watching Esme a lot recently while Alice did her own errands. I didn't even want to stomach the thought that Alice and Edward were running errands together, but that's exactly what I thought and knew deep in my heart.

I was curious as to why my best friend and my boyfriend would be running errands together. I wanted to jump to conclusions and think the worst things possible, but I didn't think either of them would do that to me. I _knew_ they wouldn't do that to me. So, I was just confused.

I turned over on my side, pulling the sheets around my naked body. The bed next to me was empty, but there was a note on the pillow.

_Bella, _

_More errands and then off to work. I'll be home for your birthday, I promise._

_I love you. Look after my heart, it's in your hands._

_Edward_

I smiled to myself, but I once again felt that nagging suspicion in the back of my conscience.

–

Edward

Party planning with Alice was a handful. All that bundled up energy and all that enthusiasm she had went into her party planning. I could tell that Bella's party was going to be extremely over extravagant almost to the point of insanity, but I knew that whoever was invited would love it.

We were having it at a small park downtown. There was a gazebo and Alice had planned to stream the entire park and the gazebo in lights. Then, there were going to be tables set up with food and drinks, then of course chairs and music. The music of the night was going to be the band Muse, one of Bella's favorites. I still wasn't sure exactly how Alice had pulled that one off. My guess was either a huge sum of money or she slept with every member of the band. Maybe both.

We would party and have a wonderful time and I would take Bella off to the gazebo and propose to her. I was nervous as hell, but I was ready to have Bella permanently for the rest of my life. I also had a surprise for her that she would never expect.

Alice took me in yet another party store and then she said we had to stop at the liquor store to pick up the wine and then we had to go do this and do that. I felt my head spinning as she rambled on and on about the party. I just wanted Bella to be happy.

"Edward, over here!" I heard from behind an aisle.

"What, Alice? Don't you think you're taking this a little bit over the top?" I winced, watching her pick up more lights.

"No, Edward! This is Bella's birthday and you are _proposing _to her. Not to mention your other surprises you have in store for her. She's going to be so excited. And she'll thank us both for this beautiful night later," Alice said, bouncing down the aisle.

I groaned as the picked up a different pack of lights and compared them.

"Alice," I started, "What if she says no?"

"Edward, Bella loves you more than anyone or anything in this entire planet. Do you really think she's going to turn you down? You're the love of her life for Christ's sake!" she explained.

I nodded to myself and walked through the aisles lost in my own thoughts.

–

Bella

I hopped out of bed a little while later and undressed to take a shower. Edward was supposed to be home in a little while and we were spending the night in and the day out tomorrow. I was feeling great, maybe a little nauseous but it happened every once in a while. I always blamed it on my dinner the night before or my breakfast the following morning. Maybe it was my dinner since I hadn't eaten breakfast yet.

I stepped out of the shower and opened my closet, sitting down on the toilet. _Odd._ My monthly gift from mother nature wasn't here like I was expecting it to be, maybe I was just stressed.

I wrapped my hair up in a towel and started brushing my teeth. And that was when I started thinking. I was nauseous and my period was late. But I couldn't even begin to get my hopes up. I wasn't supposed to be able to have children anymore. I was supposed to have a damaged uterus, incapable of carrying a baby. But could it be? I couldn't possibly tell Edward I might be pregnant and I didn't want to go through taking a test and then breaking down when it came back negative.

I finished brushing my teeth and then got dressed before I picked up my cell phone and called my OB-GYN. I set up the quickest appointment possible, which was tomorrow morning at 9am. Well, Edward and I would have to postpone our day out, but that was okay. I had to know what was going on and I could only hope for the best.

I sat down on the bed and set my phone down on the table. I breathed out a heavy sigh. Could I be getting the miracle I'd asked for or was I only getting my hopes up to have my heart broken?

I picked up my phone and dialed Edward's number, needing to hear the sound of his voice. I swore to myself I wouldn't mention my doctor's appointment or anything until I knew what was going on. I didn't want him to get his hopes up for nothing.

The phone rang three times before his sweet velvet voice rang through my ears.

"Hello, love," he said, probably smiling.

"Hey, when are you going to be home?" I asked, biting my bottom lip.

"Soon, I promise. I have to make one more stop and then I'll be back and we're going to celebrate tomorrow," he said happily.

I smiled to myself.

"Okay, I'll um... see you soon. I love you," I said, trying to sound happy.

"Is something wrong, love? Do you need to talk to me?" he asked, concerned.

"No, I'm just missing you," I halfway lied.

"Okay, if you say so. I'll see you soon. I love you. So much," he told me.

"I love you too, more than ever," I said back, kissing my phone as the call ended.

Tomorrow was going to be important. Very important.

–

Edward

I came home with my arms full of groceries and was greeted with Bella's beautiful smile. Tomorrow was going to be the most life-changing day of my life. I was going to finally be able to be with the love of my life forever. I knew that things were going to be changing, but they were going to be good changes. I had a surprise for Bella that she was never expecting, and I hoped she was going to welcome it happily.

I sat the groceries down on the counter and kissed her lips softly.

"I missed you, so much," I said, burying my face in her hair and inhaling the scent of her shampoo.

"I missed you too," she smiled sadly.

I could tell something was wrong with her, but I wasn't going to ask her about it until she was ready to tell me.

"Edward," she said, looking into my eyes, "I know it's my birthday tomorrow and I know that we have plans, but I have an appointment to go to in the morning and I don't know how long it will last, but I need to go to it. So, I will have to postpone our breakfast plans and I'll probably have to meet you later."

I felt a hint of sadness tugging at my heart, but whatever she needed, I was going to let her do.

"Okay, love, just as long as you're back by 6:00pm. I have evening plans for us, okay?" I said, trying to sound calm and not worry.

"Evening plans?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes," I said, trying not to give anything away.

"Okay," she said.

Normally I would have expected her to beg to know what was happening. Normally I would have expected her to be excited, but she was just... Not herself. I frowned, worrying about her. Maybe she was just upset about turning another year older. I figured she would tell me in time.

"Edward," she said, looking up into my eyes with a sultry expression burning in her eyes, "Make love to me."

"Right now? In the kitchen?" I said playfully.

She smiled slightly and pulled my face down to hers, kissing me softly. I moved my hands down to her waist and picked her up, setting her on the counter.

"Edward," she said, breaking our kiss.

"Yes, love?" I said, pausing as my hand began to go under her shirt.

"Nothing," she said, shaking her head.

She moved her lips to my neck and kissed there softly, sucking on the tender flesh as her hands moved to my shirt and pulled it off over my head.

I pulled her shirt off as I kissed her again. Her mouth opened a little wider and she slid her tongue against mine. I grabbed her breasts and massaged them lightly as she let out a little whimper. She moved her hand to my pants and undid my belt, letting them slide to the floor. She took off my boxers and released my hardened member. She grabbed it, running her hand along it roughly, and I let out a husky groan.

"Bella," I said, unable to think or move or _breathe_.

"I know," she replied, kissing me again. I lifted her off of the counter and carried her into our bedroom, laying her down on the bed.

I kissed down her chest, pausing at each breast and running my tongue around the smooth flesh. She bit her lip, holding back the sounds she wanted to cry out.

I slid her pants off and thrust myself inside of her warm center. She cried out softly and pulled my body closer to her.

We hadn't been that frantic, that desperate, or that dependent on each other to fulfill our needs in months. We had made love many times before that, we'd had plenty of sex, but it had never been so desperate, so wanting of each other since the first time we met. Things were changing. Things were going to be different now.

I slid myself in and out of her, watching her brown eyes staring into my green. I loved her more than I could possibly understand. I loved her to the moon and back a million times over. She was every part of me that I would have never found. She understood me and she loved me just as much as I loved her. We were one in those few moments that night, as we had never been before.

I thrust into her one last time and felt her walls closing in around me as her orgasm rushed through her body. I felt my release coming as hers did, and our climax rushed over our bodies together. We lay there, our bodies clinging, the sweat rolling softly down our backs.

I looked at Bella and I kissed her softly, pulling her into my arms. We slept like that the rest of the night and woke up the same way the next morning.

–

Bella

Last night had been beautiful, amazing, indescribably wonderful. I loved Edward, so much. Now, today was the day of my OB/GYN appointment. Today would determine a lot of things and it could possibly change things. I should have taken a pregnancy test but I was too afraid to know and to potentially have my heart broken.

I left Edward a note telling him I would see him in several hours and then I got in my car and drove to the doctor's office.

The office wasn't crowded and it wasn't too long before I was called back into the exam room.

"Alright, Ms. Swan, we're going to take some blood work and see if you're pregnant. If so, then we'll do an ultrasound, although you won't be able to see much as this stage if you are, and then we'll have to talk about your options seeing as you have some problems with your uterus," she explained.

"Options?" I questioned.

"Well, it's very unlikely that you'd be able to carry a baby to full term... So..." she trailed off.

I felt my blood boiling, but I kept my calm and didn't say anything as she stuck my arm and drew blood.

"I'll be back in fifteen minutes," she promised.

–

Fifteen minutes came and past. It was forty-five before the doctor came back.

"Ms. Swan, I did the test _three_ times. And you are indeed pregnant. I'm not really sure how it's possible either. There was no way with the damage that occurred that you could have even began to conceive a baby, but somehow, you have," she said.

"I'm pregnant, really?" I said, shocked.

"Yes, let's take a look," she said, wheeling an ultrasound machine into the room.

She put the cold gel on my stomach and moved it around a little.

"You see this little dot, right here?" she said, pointing, "Well, that's your baby."

I looked at the little dot on the monitor and I began to cry. Against all odds and against every medical doctor's opinion, I was pregnant. I was going to be able to have my own little Edward or my own mini me.

"Bella, I know this is a lot to take in, but we have to discuss this through, okay?" she said, looking at me seriously.

I nodded softly.

"There's a very high risk for this pregnancy. There's a very high chance the baby won't make it to term. You can abort the baby now, you can carry the baby as long as you possibly can and then have an emergency C-section, or you can try to deliver naturally."

"I'm keeping this baby," I said firmly, "And I will carry it nine months and I will have it naturally, I'm certain."

The doctor raised her eyebrows but she knew she better not argue.

"Alright, Ms. Swan. I'll see you in a few weeks for your ten week check up," she smiled.

"I'm already six weeks pregnant?" I said, shocked.

"Yes, you are," she smiled, "I'll see you again soon."

I walked out of that office feeling like I was on top of the world. And I couldn't wait to tell Edward.

–

It was two o'clock when I finally got home and Edward wasn't there. There was a note on the table.

_Bella, Sorry I'm not home. I'll be back at 5:30, so make sure you're ready. Wear a dress and look beautiful, which isn't hard for you always do. I love you, Happy Birthday._

_Edward_

I wondered where he was, but I trusted him, I just couldn't wait to tell him the best birthday present I had ever received. I was pregnant.

–

Edward

I went with Alice to set up the park. We didn't finish till five and I had to rush home and pick up Bella after stopping to pick up her surprise.

I walked in the door at 5:45, knowing Bella would be pissed that I was late.

She wasn't. My jaw nearly dropped as I walked in the door and saw what she was wearing.

She was wearing a curve-hugging baby pink dress that fell right at her knee. I smiled and she smiled back. She was very happy, I could tell.

"Edward, you're late! But it's okay. I need to talk to you, I—"

"Bella, we don't have time, we're running late. Here," I said, taking her hand, "Let me lead you to the car."

She frowned a little.

"Edward, it's really important though," she said, frustrated.

"I promise, we'll have plenty of time to talk after we get there," I smiled.

She sighed and sat in the car quietly.

We pulled into the parking lot at the park and Bella's eyes widened at the sight before her.

The sun was setting and the twilight hour was falling upon the city. The whole park, gazebo, trees, everything, was covered in little white lights that made the whole thing sparkle. There were pink and black balloons around the archway that you had to walk through to get to the party and there was a pink and black cake in the center of the party that said "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BELLA" on it.

She was in awe of Alice's work.

"This is what you and Alice have been planning?" She smiled.

"Yes, it is," I said, taking her hand.

I led her through the archway and she saw the stage where Muse was playing "Time is Running Out."

"Muse?" she squealed.

"It's all thanks to your best friend," I smiled, holding her hand.

We found Alice and Bella wrapped her arms around her neck, thanking her deeply for all the time and effort she put into the party.

The song ended and then the band began playing "Starlight." That song was Bella's favorite and I knew it was time for me to propose to her. I took a deep breath and led her off to the gazebo, excluded away from everyone else.

"Bella," I began, "I love you."

"I know, Edward, and I love you too. This is the best birthday I've ever had, I can't believe how many wonderful things have happened today," she smiled.

"Well, I hope this is another one of those things," I said, getting down on one knee.

"Edward!" she said, as I took my hand into hers.

"Bella, every day since the moment I've met you, I've known that I would never be able to live without you. Those few times that we've been apart, even the times when I'm at work without you, they've been some of the most painful times of my life. I love spending every second of every minute of every hour of every day with you and I love you more than I thought I could ever love any other human being. You are the love of my life and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Isabella Marie Swan, will you marry me?" I said, looking up at her.

A smile lit up her face from ear to ear as she replied, "Yes. Of course I'll marry you."

I put the ring on her finger and wrapped my arms around her, kissing her softly. I was going to marry Bella. I was going to be able to be with the love of my life forever.

"Oh, and I have a surprise for you," I smiled, pulling a sheet of paper out of my pocket.

She looked at me confused and then she took the paper and read it.

"Adoption papers?" She gasped.

"Yes, we're one of three families being considered for—"

"Edward," she laughed, "We don't need these."

I looked at her confused and hurt that she didn't like my gift.

"What do you mean we don't need them? I went through a lot of work to get us through this and now that we are, you don't want to adopt a baby?" I said, upset.

"No, Edward, no. I would love to adopt a baby with you, but I—Well, I don't know how to tell you this, since it's still a shock to me but..." she began.

"What, Bella? Spit it out!" I said, impatiently.

"I'm pregnant, Edward," she beamed.

–

**A/N: Yes, Bella's pregnant, I know, it's hard to believe! But I couldn't leave them without their own little Edward or a little Bella. I had to do something to make Bella's dreams happen.**

**And I apologize for leaving you on a cliffhanger, but it had to be done. One chapter, or an epilogue or one chapter and an epilogue, not sure how I'm going to work it yet.**

**Let me know what you think. Leave love and comments. 3**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Hiii, guys! Long time no see, right?**

**I want to apologize for taking a century to update. I started college and that's been keeping me quite busy. **

**But you got lucky because I got a writing splurge and finished Chapter 8, yaaay.**

**After this, there's an epilogue. I can't promise it will be here very soon, but I promise that it will show up eventually.**

**I want to send a huge thanks and a huge dose of Edward to everyone who has reviewed, favorited, or read the story. So, thanks! I would give you all an Edward if I could.**

**Enough of my rambling... Onto the good stuff!**

–

**Chapter 8**

Bella

I looked at Edward, watching his face go from shocked to surprised to happy. I had just told him what I had been waiting to tell him all day. And nothing was going to go wrong this time. This was my only chance to have my own baby and it was going to happen. I wasn't going to let anything stop this.

"Bella, are you... are you sure?" he choked out.

I nodded softly.

"But, you're... How did this happen?" he said, confused.

"Edward, do I really have to explain _that_ to you?" I smirked.

He grinned crookedly.

"No, you don't. But, how are we going to do this? I mean, it's risky." he said quietly.

I bit my lip and took his face in my hands, kissing him softly.

"Edward, I will do whatever it takes to make sure that this baby is safe and sound for nine months. I will love him or her each and every day and I will pray each and every night that nothing will happen. Because this is my miracle. This is the one thing I thought I could never have anymore, and now it's happening to me. And I'm not going to let anything bring me down or mess things up. This baby is a part of you and a part of me that we made together, and we're going to help this baby get through this and we're going to love it, raise it, and cherish it for many years to come," I said, looking at him the entire time.

"I love you," he replied, lifting me up and kissing my nose.

I smiled and wrapped my arms around his neck, laying my head on his chest.

"I love you too, Edward Cullen, my _fiance,_" I grinned.

He only smiled wider and took my hand as we went to announce our engagement.

–

Alice was squealing by the time Edward and I finished on the stage. She walked up to us and hugged me tightly.

"I'm so excited for you, Bella!" she squealed.

"Alice, umm... we have other news," Edward said sheepishly.

She looked from Edward to me and then back to Edward.

"Bella's pregnant," he grinned.

She squealed again, this time even louder than the first.

"Well, this is _fantastic_," she said, "Bella, we're going to be pregnant together!"

This time, I squealed. It was a squeal that outdid any Alice squeal I had ever heard.

–

Everything was turning out exactly as I had imagined it in my life. I was engaged to the most beautiful, caring, and charming person I had ever known and we were expecting our beautiful baby, just as my list had promised me.

When life throws a curve ball at you, you just have to get back up and hope that everything will be okay. In my situation, it was.

A few months had gone by, and Alice was deep within her happy realm as she planned our wedding. She was thrilled that we were going to be pregnant around the same time. She was very busy these days, but she couldn't have been more exuberant about being busy.

The wedding was soon, we had set the date for the day that Edward and I first met. And there was always more to do. There was always some meeting to go to, some cake to try, some dress to look at, and colors to pick.

Today, I was going to the bridal store to choose my dress and look at bridesmaids gowns. I was going to be around eight months pregnant when our wedding was set, so I had to keep that in mind as I looked at dresses.

Alice was going with me to give her opinions and choose her perfect maid-of-honor dress in the color of my choice. I was thinking green. Green was the most beautiful color in the world to me because it's what I woke up to every morning. Edward's smiling green eyes were the first thing I saw when I woke up.

Alice opened the door to the bridal shop and grabbed my hand, dragging me to the counter. She was more enthusiastic about _my_ wedding than I was myself. I smiled as the jabbered about our appointment to the saleslady.

We were led to the back of the store and Alice instructed me to sit down on a bench. She pulled about six dresses out of the dressing room and commanded me to try each one on.

About an hour and a half later, I'd tried on all six dresses.

"Alice, they're all beautiful, but they're not _the dress_. I'll know it when I see it and these aren't it. They're all designer, super expensive, great for someone else, but they're not for me. They're not what Edward would expect to see me in," I admitted.

"Bella, you're so frustrating," she sighed, "First of all, you can't decide on the colors for the wedding, and then it takes you ages to decide on the colors of the bridesmaid dresses, and now you can't pick out a dress. Planning my wedding was so much easier than this."

She sat down next to me and pouted.

"I'm sorry, but I just want everything to be perfect. And we're doing this _my way_," I said.

A saleslady walked by with a simple, princess-y gown, taking it back to hang on the rack.

"Wait! Can I see that dress?" I asked, taking it from her.

"Bella, it's... Wow," Alice said, her eyes widening.

I looked at the price tag and my heart about burst out of my chest. It was on sale.

"Alice, help me get this dress on," I grinned.

A few minutes later, I walked out of the dressing room.

The dress flared out at the bottom in a princess-esque way and had beading at the top. It had pockets in the skirt and it was absolutely stunning.

"It fits you perfectly, Bella," Alice grinned, "We'll take it!"

I beamed as Alice took the dress up to the register and paid for it. There were very few alterations that had to be done to it and it would be ready just in time for the wedding.

I felt so happy, and everything felt so right. I was getting married, I was actually really doing this.

–

As the day of my wedding became closer and closer and my stomach grew larger and larger, my nerves began to get to me.

I didn't understand what I could possibly be nervous about.

I loved Edward more than the earth itself, and I was so, so ready to be a mom, so why was I nervous?

Nerves were not a good thing to have these days either, they could cause complications with the baby or send me into an early labor. Either way, I needed to keep myself calm.

That was a lot easier said than done.

It was a week before the wedding.

I was sitting on the couch with a cool towel over my face because I had a headache and my stomach felt... weird. I popped a couple of tylenol and laid down on the couch.

Edward walked in the door and called out my name.

"Bella, I'm home, love," he yelled.

"In here," I replied softly.

He walked in with a smile on his face and as soon as he saw me, the smile fell.

"Bella, are you feeling okay? You don't look so well..." he said nervously.

"I'm fine, I just have a headache and my stomach feels a little weird," I replied, closing my eyes again, thinking he would leave me alone.

"What do you mean your stomach feels weird?" he said, trying to remain calm.

I could hear the panic in his voice.

"Why are you asking, Edward? I'm fine, I told you! I'm just stressed out," I said, angrily.

About that time, I felt a sharper pain in my lower stomach.

"Ouch," I said, sitting up.

I felt the blood rush to my head and a wave of dizziness hit me.

"Oh, shit," Edward said, "We need to get you to a hospital."

"Why?" I moaned.

"You might be going into a premature labor, or there might be something wrong with the baby, Bella... How long have you been stressed? You should have told me..." he said, rushing around the living room and throwing my things in a bag.

"I've been stressed for about the past month, but I was taking it easy and trying to relax... I figured it would be fine. And what the hell do you mean early labor? The baby isn't due for another month, Edward. It can't come this early. I'm not ready! You're not ready!"

I began to cry.

"Shh, baby. It's okay. We just need to get you to the hospital and make sure everything is all right," He replied, kneeling next to the couch and placing his hand on my cheek.

I nodded softly and be swept me up in his arms and carried me to the car.

–

We didn't have to wait long in the emergency room before my OB-GYN showed up and took me back into an exam room.

She looked at my cervix and checked on the baby to make sure everything was running smoothly.

"Well, Bella, your baby almost decided to come early. The stress that you've been experiencing lately is also stressing your baby out. You're going to need to be on bed rest for the rest of your pregnancy," she said.

"But, I'm getting married next week! I can't be on bed rest," I began.

"Bella, I'm sure you can postpone your wedding till after the birth of your child, or you can have a simple wedding at home. But the safety of the baby is critical at this point. It's made it this long, we have to keep it in there for another month so it won't be premature and will be very, very healthy. And I know that Edward will love to spoil you and take care of you for the next month," she smiled.

Edward squeezed my hand and grinned sheepishly.

I smiled.

"Okay, I can wait," I replied, "Edward is mine already, so it doesn't matter when or if we ever get married."

Edward leaned over and kissed me softly.

My doctor smiled.

"Oh, Bella, Edward... Would you two like to know the sex of the baby? I know you've been asked before, but I thought you might have changed your minds."

I looked over at Edward and he was looking up at me through his eyelashes. The suspense of knowing about our baby was killing both of us, though we had both decided we had wanted it to be a surprise.

"Well, I guess you can tell us. The suspense is killer," I admitted.

She smiled and grabbed the ultrasound machine, squeezing the cool gel onto my swollen tummy.

She moved it around a little until she found our baby.

Every time that we had an ultrasound, I teared up a little. It was a miracle for this beautiful little lifeform to be growing and changing inside of me and every time, it got to me.

"You see, right here?" she said, pointing to the screen, "You have a beautiful baby girl."

I beamed and looked over at Edward. He had tears welling in his own eyes.

"Daddy's little girl," I grinned.

Edward smiled and squeezed my hand gently.

–

We arrived back home a little bit after nine.

Edward insisted on carrying me up to our bedroom and laying me down in bed. He already said that he was going to take care of me for the next month and that there were to be no objections.

We had already called Alice and told her to reschedule the wedding up a few weeks. We added an extra two weeks onto my due date, just in case. I also said that I didn't want to look like a bloated whale, so hopefully that would give my body a little time to recover as well.

As Edward lay me down on our bed, he had the biggest smile on his face.

"Why are you smiling so much, Edward?" I asked, amused.

"Because, I love you." he replied, sitting me down gently.

"I love you, too, but you knew that you loved me and that I loved you, so why does that make you smile right this very second?" I asked.

"You are my everything, Isabella Marie Swan. Those few moments where I thought something was wrong with you or our beautiful daughter, I felt like my world was falling apart. We've had our issues, we've had problems, and we've made it through all of those. Now, here we are. We're having a baby, we're getting married... And even if we weren't having a baby or getting married, I can't imagine being anywhere else but here beside you in our bed."

I smiled a smile that could have outdone any smile that Edward Cullen had ever smiled.

In response, he kissed me softly, running his hand along my cheek.

Then, he lifted up my shirt and placed a trail of kisses along my stomach before pulling my shirt back down and kissing me on my lips again.

His green eyes melted into mine as he spoke again, every word he said imprinting in my mind forever.

"After we get married, after the birth of our daughter, when we're one hundred years old, no matter what, we will still be here in this bed and I will still be taking care of you and I absolutely promise that you will be close to my heart for the rest of our lives and forever after that. I will _always_ love you, Bella."

I felt the tears sliding down my cheeks because I knew every word that he said was true.

–

**A/N: Sweet happiness. **

**I'll try to get the epilogue up fairly soon.**

**I'm also working on a couple of new things, so maybe I'll post those in the near future. Just put me on author alert and you'll see all the new things I have in store :)!**

**Reviews make me happy. Don't be shy, write one.**


	9. Chapter 9 The Epilogue: A Beautiful End

**A/N: Here we are, the end. I loved reading everything that you guys have ever said about this story. Your comments make me very happy and make me realize that I'm not a completely terrible writer. So, I thank you all for your support and your best wishes. I hope that you'll read some of my works in the future as well.**

**Be sure to watch our for some new stories in the very near future! **

**I'm very sad to end this story, but Bella and Edward have to have their happy ending.**

**Enjoy and let me know what you think :)**

–

**Epilogue**

Edward

"EDWARD, GET THE DAMN BAG! IT'S IN THE KITCHEN!"

Bella was in labor.

I was running around the house like a madman trying to get everything together to rush her to the hospital.

She wasn't very happy with me right now.

"IT'S RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOUR FACE, EDWARD CULLEN!"

I groaned and finally saw the bag.

I helped her out to the car, afraid to carry her and face the wrath of her contractions that I knew were hitting her pretty hard.

"Just breathe, Bella. We'll be there soon," I promised, driving as fast as I could without speeding. Well, 15 miles over the speed limit wasn't really speeding...

"Edward Cullen, if you get us pulled over, you're delivering our daughter in the backseat of this Volvo," she threatened.

I only laughed, but shut up as I saw the look she was giving me.

We arrived at the emergency room within fifteen minutes and Bella's contractions were coming faster and faster.

I got a wheelchair and wheeled her in there and they rushed her back to the maternity ward.

Her OB-GYN arrived within five minutes and checked Bella's cervix.

"Damn, Edward," she said, looking at me, "She's already eight centimeters dilated. What were you going to do, let her have a home birth?"

I chuckled nervously.

"Well, no, but I didn't think she'd dilate that fast. She only went into labor about an hour ago."

"Well, she's one of the lucky ones," her doctor said, "Most women have a rough labor, but hers looks like it's going to be fairly easy."

I looked at Bella nervously.

She was dealing with her pain fairly well, but I wished there was more I could do. I was also nervous that my daughter was going to be here very soon.

About that time, Bella's eyes met with mine. She knew what I was thinking.

"Edward," Bella said, coming down from a contraction, "It'll be okay. You're going to be a great father."

I smiled, pulling a chair up to her bedside and taking her hand.

"You don't need to be the one easing my anxiety, love. I should be easing yours," I said.

"I know, but we're here for each other, Edward. You've told me a million times that I'm going to be a great mom and that labor won't be so bad. You sure as hell lied about labor, but I believe you," she smiled.

I squeezed her hand gently and placed a kiss on her palm.

She smiled and squeezed my hand tightly as another contraction hit her.

Her doctor rushed back in.

"Her contractions are hitting fairly close together," she said, checking Bella's cervix again.

"Ten centimeters." she said, snapping her gloves off and grabbing a new set, "Alright Bella, we're going to need you to push as hard as you can."

Bella looked at me and I saw the fear and anxiety in her own eyes.

"You can do this, Bella. You're going to do great," I replied, squeezing her hand gently again.

She nodded and began pushing.

"Good, Bella, good! I can see her head!"

I smiled, readying myself for the next death squeeze on my hand.

Bella pushed again.

"Alright, Bella, one more BIG push."

Bella pushed with every ounce of strength she had and there was our daughter.

She came out screaming with a head full of dark hair like her mother.

Bella was exhausted, but smiling as they cleaned our daughter off and then placed her in Bella's arms.

I loved Bella more in that first moment with our daughter than I had ever loved her before.

She looked down at the tiny life we had made and she had given birth to like seeing light for the first time. She showed complete devotion and adoration in the look that she was giving her. And as soon as our daughter's tiny finger wrapped around Bella's, I knew that nothing was ever going to be more important or precious to me than the two women in that hospital bed.

At about that time, a nurse walked in.

"Miss Swan, Dr. Cullen, do you know what you're going to name your daughter?"

Bella and I looked at each other and we both nodded.

"Grace Renesmee," Bella said.

The nurse gave us an odd look as we said Renesmee.

"We're calling her Grace because she was a gift to us, and Renesmee is a combination of our mothers' names," Bella explained.

The nurse nodded and wrote down what we said before walking out of the room.

I looked over at Bella.

She looked back at me and smiled the most glorious smile I had ever seen.

I smiled back, leaning down and kissing Grace's forehead and then kissing Bella softly.

This was my life now.

–

Our eyes met the moment she stepped through the doors and began walking down the aisle.

Her father, Charlie, walked her down the aisle, but the whole time, my eyes never left hers.

She looked absolutely stunning and there was no way I could take my eyes off of her, even if I had wanted to. She smiled at me, taking my hand as the pastor began conducting the ceremony.

"Edward Anthony Cullen, do you take Isabella Marie Swan to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

"I do," I said solemnly.

"Isabella Marie Swan, do you take Edward Anthony Cullen to be your lawfully weddd husband?"

"I do," she replied.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife, you may kiss the bride."

I kissed Bella like the world was about to implode on itself. I kissed her for what felt like hours when it was only fifteen seconds of our new lives together.

She looked up at me and smiled as we walked down the aisle as the newly presented "Dr. and Mrs. Edward Cullen."

I liked the sound of that.

–

After the reception, I took Bella home.

We hadn't planned a honeymoon yet because of Grace, but tonight, Grace was staying with Alice.

I picked Bella up and carried her through the front door and up to our bed, both of us giggling the whole way.

We were both giddy, but it could have been the champagne talking, just a bit.

I lay Bella down on our bed and began kissing her.

"Edward," she sighed, "Have I told you lately how much I love you?"

"I believe you have, Mrs. _Cullen_," I replied, smirking.

"Well, I really do," she said, slipping my suit jacket off and beginning to unbutton my shirt.

I found the zipper on the back of her dress and slid it down, sliding her dress off of her body.

She took my pants off and then ran her hands along my back.

I slid off her panties and bra and she slid off my boxers and we lay there, bare and unmoving.

"Bella," I said huskily, "Have I told you lately that I love you too?"

She smiled softly.

"I believe you have," she replied, kissing my shoulder.

"Well, I do," I said as I pushed myself into her center.

She cried out softly and began moving with me.

This was our new life.

–

We made love into the early hours of the morning. We weren't tired, we just cherished our new life and the warmth and contours of each others bodies.

Bella lay in my arms, running her hand along the muscles in my chest and back. I kissed her softly on her lips and on her neck, occasionally moving down to her breasts or her shoulders.

This was us. This was how it was supposed to be all along.

It didn't matter that life hadn't gone exactly as planned, it didn't matter that we had taken a long time to get there. We'd had our ups and downs, we'd fought, we'd hated, we'd loved. Both of us had made mistakes and I had nearly made one that cost me my everything. Now though, everything was right.

All that mattered that night and for the rest of our lives was that we were together. We were so close to each others hearts that nothing could have torn us apart then.

Bella's list turned out a bit different from what she imagined, but she swore that this was better than anything her list could have ever come up with.

We had a beautiful daughter, a beautiful life ahead of us, and we had each other. It was all we would ever need.

Our lives began the moment that we met eyes from across a room, but our lives were never complete until the day we said "I do." From that day forward, we were together forever and never apart, maybe in distance, but never in heart.

**THE END.**

**It's over. Edward and Bella and their daughter, Grace... They all live happily ever after.**

**I appreciate my awesome fans and reviewers and look forward to seeing a lot of you again soon. Put me on author alert, I promise I'll be coming up with some new ideas soon.  
**

**Leave me some love and review and thank you for reading! 3  
**


End file.
